Make Us Hide Behind Shades
by Jude Rigby
Summary: After a murder at the local polo fields Castle and Beckett are called on to assist in the investigation. A note, an abandoned home and covert parties plunge them into the shades of human perception and why nothing can, or should, be taken at face value. Twenty-sixth in the Beware Of Darkness Series. Caskett pairing. Complete.
1. Prologue- 'Twas Halloween

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: The title of this story is a lyric from the song _Devil's Radio_ by George Harrison, from his album _Cloud Nine_. The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _My Dear Country_ by Norah Jones, from her album _Not Too Late_.

'Twas Halloween

"Stunning as always darling," Martha said when her daughter in law walked out into the bedroom.

"That's more because you did an amazing job with the dress," Beckett said. She went to stand next to her so she would be in front of the full-length mirror and smiled as she said, "I thought it'd take forever to get to wear this."

"I know but Halloween is finally here," Martha said. "By the way," she said as she was studying the fit of the lace dress that was nearly an exact double to the one worn by Maria Menounos in her _Dancing With the Stars_ Paso Doble. She'd made it entirely of darker blue lace though it was only visible on the sleeves; the rest of the lace was on top of a solid dark blue fabric under dress that matched the color of the lace. She checked the heightened collar to make sure it would stand on its own; which it was still doing; before checking the edges of the lace to make sure it hadn't curled. "You're sure about the cutouts?" she asked finally.

"Yes, modest enough," Beckett said with a soft laugh as they'd discussed how much those cut outs should go with the real dress. Whereas the dress on the show had had a cut out on the abdomen on her own it wasn't there. And her back wasn't exposed either in consideration of the cold that had settled on the Hamptons for good since she'd be going out trick or treating with the girls and the others at the party. But the neckline of the dress was low, not quite as much as on the show but enough that she was aware her husband would appreciate it. "It's beautiful," she finally said. She laughed slightly and then said to her mother in law, "I don't know how many times I can say that." She then noticed the look on the older woman's face and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's not as tight," Martha said. Sighing she said, "My sewing skills must be slipping I thought I'd managed to get it enough after the last time you tried this on."

"I don't mind," Beckett told her. "It doesn't need to be skin tight."

"Then you're ready," Martha said simply with a smile. "Do you need any help?"  
"No I'm alright," Beckett assured her.

"Then I'll be in my room making sure I keep an ear out for Richard; I wouldn't put it past him to try and sneak in," Martha replied.

"Neither would I," Beckett said with a soft laugh.

"Oh, will Alexis be talking to us tonight?" Martha asked before she turned to leave the room.

"No, we talked to her yesterday early," Beckett said. "Before you came here and she mentioned she and Louis going to a party at someone's house in town tonight."

"Good, I wouldn't want her not to get the chance to dress up and go dancing," Martha said. "Especially this last year and the studying she's likely doing."

"She said the same thing; that she wanted to relax too," Beckett said with a smile. Her mother in law left then and she turned to change out of her Halloween costume and back into her sweater and leggings she'd gotten dressed into that morning. As she was checking her hair in the full-length mirror she couldn't help recalling when she and Castle had gone with Alexis and Louis to Oxford nearly three weeks before, helping the latter move in with the former though there wasn't much they did that qualified as moving in. She smiled as she recalled how the two had shown their room to them and Castle's equanimity during the day before they'd headed back to London for their flight home the next afternoon.

* * *

 _"Do you mind the floor change?" Castle asked his daughter after she and Beckett had finished making the queen-sized bed there._

 _"No, we need the space since there are two of us here now," Alexis said with a smile. "And we're only a floor below the washing machine."_

 _"Is that it Lex?" Louis asked his girlfriend as he came back into the room from putting away his suitcase in a storage room on the second floor._

 _Looking around Alexis nodded and said, "I think it is."_

 _"It looks nice," Beckett said after she and Castle had looked at the room. Since Alexis was sharing it with her boyfriend her stepdaughter had put up just pictures to the left of the bed. Mostly pictures of NYC and around the beach and backyard of the Hamptons that the young woman herself had taken. The other pictures were of Ireland and White Mount Manor that Louis had taken while the other wall; where two desks were side by side that she and Castle had gifted the two with; had one poster in between them since both had bookshelves. "It's a good thing you two love The Beatles," she commented._

 _"Feel a bit bad that's about all I like," Louis commented._

 _"Do you two have a song?" Castle asked._

 _"We do," Alexis said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Our second date we went to a club and we danced to the song_ Come Away with Me _."_

 _"We just knew it was our song," Louis said slightly embarrassed though he was still smiling._

 _"Good to hear," Castle said. "So," he said. "Should we head to lunch?"_

 _"That'd be great, I know the perfect place," Louis said. With that he and Alexis led the two out before they went to a Greek restaurant near the townhouse._

 _"You've been here before?" Castle asked them as he and Beckett were sitting across from the couple at a table._

 _"A couple times, he loves Greek," Alexis replied._

 _"Been there too; when Erin was three," Louis said as the two looked to him. "I remember the water, beautiful and it was fun."_

 _"I get the feeling we'll be going there," Beckett said, looking at her husband with a smile._

 _After they'd ordered Alexis said to her father, "I'm surprised that the girls took my leaving as well as they did."_

 _"They know this is your last year," Castle replied._

 _"That and they know you'll be off again by the sixth of December," Beckett said. "Less than two months."_

 _"And they're counting down already," Louis said since he'd seen the girls doing that before they'd left._

 _"I know," Alexis said with a laugh. "And you Dad?"_

 _"Again, you'll be back in less than two months and this is your last year," Castle said. He then looked at Louis and asked, "You got the papers, right?"_

 _"I did, thank you for them," the young man said as his girlfriend's father had gotten him the form to apply for a green card. "Hopefully though I'll be able to stay."_

 _"We'll make sure you do if you'd like," Beckett said, not surprised when her husband nodded next to her._

 _"Thank you," Louis replied before he saw that their waiter was coming back with their plates._

 _As they were eating Castle and Beckett discussed the class schedules of the two and since they were taking a number to be able to get their diplomas they were finishing their meal when they had stopped._

 _"So it looks like you two are all set," Beckett said to her stepdaughter as they waited outside for Castle and Louis._

 _"I think we are," Alexis said. "What would you like to do now?"_

 _"We're going into London," Beckett replied. She smiled when her stepdaughter looked surprised and told her, "Your dad wants to go, let you two get used to living together here in particular. And without the girls."_

 _"I'll still miss them; and you," Alexis replied with a smile._

 _"When are Brennan and Clara coming?" Beckett said, spotting Louis and her husband walking up to them._

 _"Tomorrow, just a quick visit before they return home since Erin has school that day," Louis said._

 _"Good thing you two have Monday off," Castle said as they walked back to the townhouse._

 _"I know but I do want to get to this year and finish everything up," Alexis replied. "Go back home for good."_

 _"So would I," Louis added._

 _Since the restaurant hadn't been that far from the home the four were soon stopping in front of the fence at the townhouse to look at each other._

 _"We have one last thing for you," Castle said to the two._

 _"Dad-" Alexis started to say._

 _"I wouldn't say no to this," Beckett commented as Castle handed over some folded up pieces of paper._

 _"A week in Paris?" Louis said, startled as he read over his girlfriend's shoulder._

 _"An incentive for you two to keep going with your studies," Castle said._

 _"Brennan and Clara chipped in with us for this," Beckett told them. "Whenever you'd like to go just let us know and we'll set things up for you."_

 _"Thank you so much," Alexis said happily before she hugged them both at the same time and tightly. "This is… perfect."_

 _"It is," Louis added. "We'll have to thank my parents as well tomorrow," he said to his girlfriend while he was shaking Castle's and Beckett's hands. "Thank you."_

 _"Oh, Louis we're going to stay at the George V, remember I told you about it?" Alexis told him._

 _"I do, I'd say thank you again but I'd be repeating myself," Louis said. "Just know the sentiment is there."_

 _"We know and you're welcome," Castle said._

 _"What?" Alexis asked, seeing the look her father and stepmother exchanged._

 _"It's also a thank you for you both taking care of the girls," Beckett said first._

 _"We were glad to," Louis said. "But my da and mam?"_

 _"We don't know, they didn't say," Castle said. "I guess they'll tell you tomorrow."_

 _"Rick," Beckett said, touching his arm after catching sight of the time._

 _"Right," Castle said, breathing out. "While we're not so emotional this is still hard."_

 _"It is," Alexis said with a nod. She watched as Beckett embraced Louis, smiling at that before her father shook his hand warmly, both wishing him good luck in achieving his doctorate._

 _"Thank you; will be doing my best," Louis said. "Lex I'm going to go get the bikes ready."_

 _"You're going out?" Beckett asked._

 _"We're going to ride around, get reacquainted with the campus," Alexis said._

 _"Good idea," Beckett said before the young man was leaving them. She then embraced her stepdaughter tightly and murmured, "I'll miss you Alexis but like we keep saying you'll be back soon for Christmas." She then pulled back and asked, "What about Thanksgiving?"_

 _"I'm not sure," Alexis said honestly. "It depends on the professors."_

 _"We'll hope you can come," Beckett told her before they were hugging once more. Once they had parted she said, "I love you Alexis and I wish you all the best this year. Call for any reason."_

 _"I will," the young woman said with a smile at how serious her stepmother was. "And I love you too; and will miss you of course."_

 _Castle smiled as Alexis gave his wife one last hug before they kissed each other's cheeks; something they'd started doing to say goodbye or greet each other after his daughter and Louis had gone to the city for a week during their break. "Okay," he said when she turned to him. "See? Dry eyes but like Kate said we'll miss you and I will definitely miss you."_

 _"Thank you, Dad," Alexis replied with a slight laugh. She embraced him tightly and told him, "I love you, thank you for letting me come."_

 _"There was no stopping you sweetheart," Castle said, embracing her back. "And I will not regret you coming here, believe me. So study hard and, as your gram would say of course, remember to have fun and relax. Oh, and what Kate said about calling? You can do that with me; any time."_

 _"I'll keep that in mind Dad, I love you," Alexis told him with a slight smile._

 _"I love you too Alexis," Castle said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. They embraced once more and they left his daughter, getting into the rental car they'd brought out from London. After waving with Beckett out the window to her he drove them down the road that would take them to the motorway back to the capital._

 _"Have they gone?" Louis asked his girlfriend as he brought her bike from the back._

 _"They did," Alexis said. She sighed and said, "I feel bad," turning to him. "We'll go to New York so I really won't need to say goodbye to them but you-"_

 _"I know but my da told me something when I mentioned your worry about that," Louis said, smiling at her brightly. "It just gives them all an excuse to come to America and see us there."_

 _Alexis laughed and threw her arms around her boyfriend tightly, kissing him before she said, "If you're alright with that…"_

 _"Aye, definitely," Louis said, nodding seriously._

 _"Then let's go," Alexis said with a wide smile, waiting for him to get his bike so they could go._

 _At the same time, Beckett was placing her hand on her husband's arm and she asked him, "Okay?"_

 _"Yeah," Castle said quickly. "She's happy but will still miss us; it's all I can ask from her." He then smiled and said to his wife, "But the former is the most important of course."_

 _"Of course," Beckett said before she squeezed his hand tightly and they focused their attention back on the road ahead of them._

* * *

 _"Hey Kate," Castle said, coming up to the doorway of their bedroom at their hotel suite at the Savoy._

 _"Yeah?" Beckett asked, folding her coat._

 _"Better take that with you," Castle told her._

 _"Why? I thought we were staying in for dinner?" Beckett said. When he smiled at her she pretended to sigh in annoyance before saying, "Where are we going?"_

 _"Chipper," Castle replied._

 _"Alright," Beckett said, relieved to find her husband in relatively good spirits considering that they'd left his daughter in Oxford for a second time. She threw her light blue coat on and took his hand, making sure he had the umbrella they'd used as it was raining in the city. "How far is it?" she asked._

 _"The same one we went to with the girls," Castle replied before they left the room. They both could remember the way easily and were soon sitting together on some tall chairs, looking out on the street as they began eating their order. "I was almost going to take you to a play tonight," he told his wife. "But I figured you wouldn't really want to."_

 _"It would have been nice if we were staying here longer," Beckett replied. "Another time."_

 _"So what would you like to do tonight?" Castle asked after they'd eaten in silence for a while. "Watch old Monty Python reruns?"_

 _With a soft laugh Beckett said, "No, the pool."_

 _"I thought that might catch your eye," Castle replied. "I agree, that would be nice. Next time we're here, would you like to stay at the Savoy instead of the Ritz?"_

 _"The girls would love to see it," Beckett replied with a nod._

 _"Alright," Castle nodded. "I'll remember that." He smiled when she nudged him and he couldn't help leaning over, kissing her gently on the lips and quickly since anyone on the street could see them. After they had finished they walked out together to the street, huddled close underneath their umbrella. "_ Thank you _," he said when they could see the Savoy in sight._

 _"For what?" Beckett said, wondering why he was speaking in Irish._

 _"For coming with me; it would have been difficult to do this on my own seeing her with Louis," Castle said._

 _Squeezing his arm Beckett said, knowing he was referencing his daughter growing up, "You're welcome and I had to see that she would be okay this year too. That I didn't want her to think I was kicking her out of the house."_

 _With a laugh Castle said, "I don't really get the feeling she'd think that but it's nice of you to do." They were nearly at their hotel and he told her, "_ You're a great mother _."_

 _"_ Stepmother _," Beckett corrected him, watching him at that word._

 _"_ Mother _," Castle said. "_ Emotionally. It's why she calls us parents when she's talking about both of us. _"_

 _"Oh," Beckett replied._ _"_ She does _?"_

 _"_ And she calls your dad and my mother grandparents when she's talking about both of them _," Castle explained._

 _"_ Nice of her to say that _," Beckett replied._ _  
_

 _"_ He's a good grandfather _," Castle said firmly. He then squeezed her hand tightly and said, "_ And you're a great mother _."  
_

 _Beckett smiled and then said, "_ It's a natural instinct _."_

 _"_ And you perform it well _," Castle said, stopping her. He then leaned down to her and kissed her, not caring they were still walking as he wasn't lingering for very long at that moment. When they parted, he said, "_ I love you _," still speaking in Irish._

 _"_ I love you too _," Beckett said seriously._

 _Seeing the doorman ahead of them Castle then said, "Let's go swimming?"_

 _"I'd love to," Beckett replied, letting him lead the way back inside and out of the rain once more._

* * *

Feeling arms wrapping around him from behind Castle smiled and said, "Hey love, your costume's all set?"

"It is," Beckett replied. She kissed his temple gently and said, "What're you doing?"

"Just reading over and thinking of something we can write," Castle told her.

"Okay," Beckett said, reluctantly letting him go to grab her desk chair. She sat down right next to her husband and said, "Go ahead."

"Alright we're at the point where Sky comes out of her coma," Castle replied. "I thought of having her reacting to Marion kissing her lips but thought that was too… much."

"Too Sleeping Beauty," Beckett said with a smile.

"I thought you might think that," Castle replied with a nod. "So instead… can I put it and see what you think?"

"Go ahead," Beckett said, watching him then turn to his laptop.

"Standing behind Marion, Green watched her friend's wife a little sadly as she sobbed with Sky's hand pressed against her cheek," Castle began, saying out loud for his wife as he typed. "'You can't give up hope,' she told Marion gently. 'It's hard not to,' the woman replied tearfully. 'You know Sky is everything to me,' she whispered. Reaching up she gently caressed her wife's face before she froze. 'Was that-' Green said, startled at the exhalation of air from Sky. 'Sky!' Marion cried in joy as they watched the woman's eyes slowly blink before they stayed open, looking at them blearily. Green couldn't help herself and she squeezed Sky's other hand tightly in her joy before running out the door to call for a nurse."

"I think you have it," Beckett said. "Simple and yet very powerful," she told him. "I love that you have them both together and Moor not there."

"I didn't think it would work," Castle replied. "Moor there in the room with them since his connection isn't really that strong with Sky yet. Do you want to write anything else?"

Looking at her watch Beckett shook her head and told him, "It's almost time to get Eliza." She smiled when he looked at his watch in obvious shock and told him, "We were late moving from reading the paper."

"I know," Castle said, standing up as his wife did. He grabbed her hand then and held it tightly telling her, "Kate, tonight-"

"I know," Beckett replied. "And if we're not too tired then we can."

"We've gotten too tired too often lately," Castle said. When his wife laughed he then leaned down to her and kissed her hungrily, pulling her close to him and a little desperately as they'd nearly woken up late and had rushed through their morning routine.

Beckett could have stayed there for a long time kissing her husband but soon after they were interrupted by Rita barking and they looked at each other before the chime to the gate rang. They laughed together and then hurried over to the door so she could press the button as she already knew it was her father. She stepped out onto the porch with Castle to watch her father soon drive over to the garage, waiting for him to park and step out so she could hurry to him and help him with his luggage.

"Hello," Jim said as his daughter came up to him while he was standing at the opened trunk. He hugged her tightly and said, "How are you Katie?"

"Good, relieved for the girls' sake the rain stopped," Beckett said after she let him go.

"Luckily it's not supposed to rain again until tomorrow," Castle said as he walked up to them, shaking his father in law's hand as the dogs were sniffing around them. "How was your drive?"

"Not bad," Jim said simply as he allowed his son in law to grab his smaller suitcase as he was staying through until Sunday afternoon. "Are you ready for your season next week?"

"As ready as I can be," Castle replied.

"He is," Beckett said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry I won't be able to make it," Jim said.

"You've had this conference planned for a long time," Castle replied. "And you've seen my games before."

"He's more concerned I'm there," Beckett said, unaware that her husband was nodding to her father behind her. "Anyways you got here just in time."

"You're walking to pick up Eliza?" Jim asked as he was aware of the time.

"We are," Castle said before he heard his mother coming down the stairs. He watched them greet each other briefly and then said, "Are you coming with us Mother?"

"I suppose I should," Martha said, glancing out one of the windows on either side of the door.

"Why don't you wait until we get Julia; we can go all together with the dogs then?" Beckett said.

"I thought we were letting her and Mari walk home?" Castle reminded her.

"You are?" Jim said.

"We are," Beckett said. "We always talk about letting them go by themselves but we never had. So, I guess this one is a test run when they're in middle school; both of them."

"Then I'll go now," Martha replied. "It might tickle her to see both her grandparents here."

After they had on their coats while Jim watched with the dogs as the three left and then went out to the street so they could go to the school and get Eliza back home for the holiday.

* * *

"It feels a lot like fall now," Dawn said to the others as they were walking together.

"I know you think our parents were right and it won't rain tonight?" Peter asked the other three.

"My dad said and his knee is always right," Julia said. She stopped then when they came to a street corner and she and Mari turned to the two behind them. "We'll see you at my house," she said with a wide smile. "It'll be fun tonight."

"Do we really have to dance?" Dawn asked them.

"Maybe not," Mari said. "We just did that for fun."

"I gotta go, my mom's going to come and get me if I'm not home," Peter replied.

"Mine too," Dawn added before Julia and Mari echoed her at the same time.

Laughing with her friends Julia waved with Mari as the two walked in the direction of their homes which were across the street from each other a block away from that point. She then turned to her best friend and said, "Let's go?"

"Yeah," Mari said before they walked arm in arm together towards their neighborhood. "Do you have a lot of homework?" she asked.

"Just some history reading," Julia replied.

"What are you learning about now?" Mari asked.

"Ancient Egypt and it's so cool," Julia replied with a wide smile.

"I can't wait to learn about it," Mari said a little jealously.

"I'll show you the pictures in my book," Julia promised her. They had reached the Foster home by then but instead of going to the front door they walked down the path in between their homes to go to the beach. Stopping there they hugged each other tightly and she said, "Are you ready?"

"Yep, I know how I'm gonna look like Derek and everything," Mari replied. She giggled when her friend looked at her, a slightly horrified expression on her face, before she told her, "I won't have blonde hair but I'll sorta try to look like a boy."

"But I told you, you don't have to," Julia said, trying not to sound exasperated as they'd had the discussion before.

"Are you sure?" Mari asked. When Julia nodded she sighed and said as they let go of each other, "I was gonna make my hair look shorter and then slick it back; my daddy was gonna help me."

"Put it up in a braid, it'll be good still," Julia reassured her.

"Okay I-" Mari began.

"Mari, come inside honey," Rebecca called behind them from the deck of the Foster house.

"I gotta go," Mari said, making a face. She and Julia embraced one more time before she rushed to her home crying, "See you later!"

Waving to Rebecca herself Julia then turned and walked over to her own home; not surprised to see her mother standing at the top of the steps up to the house from the grass. "I didn't take that long Mommy," she said quickly as she hurried up the lawn to her.

"I wasn't here for that reason," Beckett said before her daughter hopped up the stairs. She embraced her as soon as Julia had reached her and asked, "How did it go?"

"Really nice," the girl said with a smile. "But it was a quick walk."

"If it was longer we would have picked you up," Beckett said as they let go of each other. "But since you're nearly in middle school do you want to walk home on your own?"

"After my dance classes?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she said quickly, "No way! Maybe if there aren't any classes like today," she told her.

"Alright," Beckett said with a smile. "Let's go in and see what you have for homework."

"Just reading, hi Daddy," Julia said, adding the last when her father appeared in front of them.

"Hey, so how was it?" Castle asked.

"Fun but really short," Julia replied. "I told Mommy the same thing. Is Grandpapa here?"

"Come on," Beckett said before they went over to the kitchen.

"Hello Julia," Jim said as he looked over to see his granddaughter walking down the hall.

Crying out Julia took off down the rest of the hallway before she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. "Are you ready for tonight?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I am," Jim said with a smile. "I heard you got to walk home alone today."

"Yep but it wasn't special, just real fast," Julia said. "Hi Lizzy," she said to her little sister who was standing behind their grandfather, one of their mother's old shirts on her as she was painting. "Did you see Mommy's dress yet?"

Giggling softly Eliza shook her head and said, "No, not until later."

"No one's seeing it until later," Beckett said, looking pointedly at her husband as Martha came into the kitchen.

After she'd greeted her grandmother Julia sat down at the table, eating some apple slices and trying to pay attention to her history text book. But after a while she realized that her memory of the steps that she had practiced with their friends at lunch since the school year had begun was keeping her from taking in what she saw on the page.

* * *

 _"What if we don't dance?" Dawn asked the other three._

 _"It's exercise?" Peter asked. When they laughed he did so as well and told them, "My dad says that."_

 _"Does he care that you dance?" Dawn said, looking at him worriedly because he usually didn't mention his father since he lived in the city as his parents were divorced._

 _"No, he says it keeps me out of trouble," Peter said with a shrug. "Whatever that means. So let's start."_

 _"Come on," Julia said before they hurried over to the corner of the playground where she could take out her phone. She opened the clip of the dance and she, Mari and Peter watched Dawn as she watched the dancing on it._

 _"How can you do that?" the girl said when Julia had pocketed her phone._

 _"Easy," Peter said before he took Julia's hands and they began to go around in circles, kicking their legs as Maria and Derek had at the beginning of the dance._

 _"You think I can do that?" Dawn said, her mouth opened in shock as they stopped._

 _"What?" Julia said, seeing Mari was covering her mouth with her hands._

 _"Nothing, that was really good," the little girl replied._

 _"Can you do that?" Dawn asked her._

 _"Sure, we learned together when I was at Julia's house and they practiced," Mari replied with a shrug._

 _"Do it," Dawn said._

 _Sighing Julia took her friend's hand and then got into hold with her before they were doing the same dance themselves. When they stopped she was startled when she saw some of the other kids were staring at them and she said, "Um… we should start on_

* * *

"Julia?" Beckett said, cutting into her daughter's thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I think she's sleeping; she's almost drooling," Castle said, taking the plate that had had some apple slices on it from his wife.

"My eyes are open Daddy," Julia said, giving him a look.

"You could still sleep," Castle said in mock protest, making her laugh at his tone.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Beckett said, sitting with her.

"Oh… just thinking about us teaching Dawn to dance," Julia replied. "She has it down pretty good now…"

"But?" Beckett asked, raising her hand outside of the girl's view so Castle would stop in his approach to them.

"I have to dance Derek's steps," Julia said quickly. She sighed and said, "Mari couldn't get them she's not used to doing the lead ones."

"It'll be fine," Castle said before his wife could speak.

"He's right," Beckett said when their oldest looked at her. "If it was better for you to take Derek's steps then you should."

"If we dance," Julia said, smiling as she felt better then.

"Why not? I want to see this dance," Castle said.

"I think it depends on Dawn," Beckett said, studying their daughter's face.

"Yeah, she's a little shy," Julia replied.

"Did you read?" Beckett asked then, touching the text book. "At all?" She wasn't surprised when Julia's cheeks flushed and she bowed her head. "It's alright sweetie," she told her. "I think we need a change of scenery."

"We do?" Julia asked hopefully.

"Mmm-hmm," Beckett replied before she reached over to her and took her hand. "We'll be in the library Rick."

"Have fun," Castle said with a smile as he watched them go over to the stairs before he went into the family room where Eliza was with her grandparents.

"How come we're here?" Julia asked, watching her mother sitting on the window seat her parents had had installed earlier the month before. It was at the window that looked directly down on the ocean and it was her favorite spot to read in the house.

"Because I know how much you love it," Beckett told her, reaching out for her.

After she was sitting next to her mother, leaning against her Julia said, "Are you gonna read?"

"It's not my assignment," Beckett said simply. She smiled when her daughter laughed and she tenderly kissed the top of her head before she listened to Julia reading about the Ancient Egyptian deities until she had finished the chapter. "Good job," she said. "And now you can spend the rest of your Halloween without worrying about your homework."

"Mommy?" Julia asked her. "Could Lizzy and I watch you get into your costume please?"

"Yes," Beckett replied with a smile as her daughter looked so hopeful.

"So, I'm not going to be the one to see it first," Castle pretended to complain from the doorway.

"Your mother was," Beckett said wryly as she gave him a look. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm just checking to see if you guys are aware of the time," Castle replied.

"Change into your costume Rick," Beckett told him teasingly. "I'll change and then help the girls."

"Where's Lizzy?" Julia asked.

"I'm here," Eliza said, hurrying over behind her father with the dogs.

"Come on you two," Beckett told them.

"Are we gonna change?" Eliza asked as she took her mother's hand when she passed her.

"No, we get to see her get dressed in her costume," Julia told her excitedly.

"We do?" Eliza asked, her tone matching her sister's.

"Yes, since your sister asked so nicely," Beckett replied. She took them into her room; Castle in one of the guest bedrooms; and she quickly put her hair up into a bun as the girls were watching. Once she was done she went to where she'd put the dress in the closet, having hidden it from her husband before that point. "Here it is," she said to the girls as she walked out to them.

"It doesn't look very pretty," Julia said.

Looking at her oldest before she smiled Beckett said wryly, "You're so much like your daddy when you do that."

"Good," Julia said with a wide smile before she and her sister watched eagerly as their mother opened the dress cover. "Oh," she breathed as soon as Beckett had it out.

"Mommy it's so pretty," Eliza breathed.

"It is, your gram did a wonderful job," Beckett said, still smiling at her daughters' reactions. "Alright, let me change into it." She pulled off her sweater before she removed her leggings and then stepped into the dress.

"Mommy your-" Julia began to say.

"Hold on," Beckett said, swiftly taking off her bra before she slipped her arms into the sleeves. Once they were set she turned her back to Julia and felt the zipper being pulled up before she turned around. "Okay, I'm almost ready," she told them.

"What do you have to put on?" Eliza asked, watching her mother going around then to the closet again.

"Her shoes," Julia told her sister with a smile.

"The dancing ones?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"They are," Beckett replied as she walked out to them. She sat down on the bed and smiled again when the girls flanked her before she told them, "What're you two doing?"

"Watching you," Julia said, looking on as her mother buckled her shoes. "You look so pretty."

"Now that I have the shoes on?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding rapidly. "I wanna see you and Daddy dance."

"I'm sure we can manage a few steps for you," Beckett replied. When the girls gasped she said, "We're still taking the dance classes for a reason," before she stood.

"Can we get Daddy now?" Eliza asked, beaming up at her mother.

"I think he's here," Beckett said when she heard a knock on the door. "Go ahead," she told them, watching them racing over to it so they could open it.

"Hey, so how does she look?" Castle asked, looking pointedly at the girls though he knew his wife was there.

"She's here Daddy and you look really good, like Derek," Julia said.

"Thanks," Castle said before he walked into the room fully, closing the door behind him. "Kate," he breathed out when he saw her.

"Not bad?" Beckett asked jokingly as she stepped up to him.

"Not at all," Castle said admiringly as he wrapped his arm around her and placed his hand flat on her back. He watched her straighten his high collared black jacket over a plain white shirt and said, "Same for me."

Beckett shook her head, though she was smiling, and she told him, "Stop fishing for compliments." Before he could say anything, she leaned into him and kissed him gently before saying, "You look perfect."

Castle couldn't help smiling widely at her before he then kissed her deeply, forgetting for a moment about their daughters until Eliza suddenly sneezed. "Um… I'm sorry," he said, about to say that to the girls before directing it to his wife.

"It's okay," Beckett said. "It's a compliment." She smiled when he nodded rapidly and she kissed his cheek before they looked at the girls.

"Julia? Can you take a picture of us with my phone? I want to send it to Alexis and just have it there," Castle asked her.

"Sure," Julia said, taking the phone he handed her. She waited for her parents to stand together before she took a picture and then hurried to show them.

"Perfect," Beckett said. She was going to say more when her husband suddenly leaned over and nipped at her earlobe before he murmured, " _Just like you_ ," in Irish. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts before she could say, "We need to help them get ready."

"Not yet," Julia said sternly. When her parents looked at her she said firmly, "You didn't dance."

"Oh of course," Castle said.

"Mommy you promised," Julia said as she could tell her mother was going to protest.

"Okay," Beckett said with a sigh, letting her husband lead her over to a clear area behind the bed. When he turned to her she stepped up to him to let him take her into hold and once they were ready she allowed him to begin the first step and they danced a few of them they knew from their classes. They stopped with Castle dipping her, making her cry out in surprise in reaction before she laughed with the girls as they had been watching them closely. "Help me up love," she told her husband when he took a while to do that.

Letting her stand Castle said, "It works."

Beckett laughed softly at his tone and was going to reach around her neck to take off her pendant when her husband stopped her. "What?" she asked.

"Leave it," Castle replied. "It doesn't take anything away from your costume."

"He's right Mommy," Julia said quickly. "It stands out."

"I'll leave it," Beckett said, smiling as Eliza had added a, "Yeah!" to go with their comments. "Let's get you two dressed." She and Castle took their daughters out to the hall where they walked down to their rooms, splitting up as she was going to help Julia while he would assist their youngest. "Okay," Beckett said to her daughter after closing and locking the door. "Get undressed, I can't help you put on your pants if your jeans are still on," she told her jokingly as she went to the closet to grab the costume.

"I could try," Julia said teasingly. "I'd be warm."

Beckett just looked at her daughter before she saw that she was taking off her clothes and she quickly helped Julia into the pants before assisting her with her white blouse. "Tuck that in," she told her as she held the jacket her daughter would be wearing over that.

"What about my hair?" Julia asked after she had closed the fly of the trousers and pulled the blouse out a little so it was loose and comfortable for her.

"Good point," Beckett replied with a smile before she walked over to the bathroom to grab her daughter's brush. When she was sitting on the side of the bed she then brushed out Julia's braid and braided it back up before she then rolled that into a bun that was close to how Maria's hair was during the dance the costume was from.

"Now my jacket," Julia said eagerly, putting the coat that had a split tail on. She then waited for her mother to tie the bowtie that went with the 'tuxedo' and was white before she smiled and told her, "You do this for Daddy huh?"

"I do but he knows how to tie it," Beckett replied. "He prefers that I do it."

"Good, you should do that Mommy," Julia said before her mother rolled her eyes playfully that made her laugh softly. "I'm ready," she then said.

"Not yet," Beckett said. "You forgot your hat."  
Julia smiled at the sight of the tiny hat that was attached to her hair by some pins. Once it was ready she went to her mirror and then looked at her mother saying, "How do I look?"

"Very grown up," Beckett said, smiling lovingly at her. "Come here."

Julia hurried over to her and hugged her tightly before she said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, I don't mind the costume if you thought I did," Beckett replied. She heard a knock on the door and said, "We should go, everyone's going to start arriving."

Julia nodded and walked hand in hand with her mother over to the door and when it was open she gave a loud squeal and said, "You're at Hogwarts Lizzy!"

"You're gonna dance!" Eliza said, squealing herself and jumping up and down before she and her sister hugged. "You got a doll hat," she said, beaming at the hat perched atop her sister's head.

"You got a wand," Julia said. "Should we go show them?"

"No need," Martha said, she and Jim walking down the hall to the doorway then. "We're here and you two look adorable," she told her granddaughters.

"Thanks Gram!" the two said together.

"Who are you Gram?" Eliza then asked.

"Either Marlene Dietrich or Whitney Houston," Castle commented. When he saw his wife was looking at him he shrugged and said, "She played Marlene in one of her videos."

"The former," Martha said with a heavy, affected sigh as she embraced her granddaughters. She was dressed in a tuxedo, completely white, with sequins on the lapels and around the band of the top hat. She'd pulled her hair back and did resemble the actress though her hair was different in color.

"You do look great Martha," Beckett said. "Dad, you too," she said with a smile.

"I'm not sure how this works exactly," Jim said as he was wearing a simple suit in black.

"Oh, here," Castle said, taking something out of the pocket his mother had sewn in his jacket. "Now you're Roy Orbison. But I wouldn't wear those out if you're coming with us."

Jim felt a little foolish trying to appear like the singer, especially with the sunglasses on, but when his granddaughters squealed that he looked great he smiled slightly. "And you all look very nice; I told Martha that when we stepped out at the same time," he said to them all.

"We do," Castle said, smiling at Eliza who was showing Jim her Hogwarts uniform that his mother had made. She had a skirt and vest, the latter having the Ravenclaw colors and even the crest on it, also a Ravenclaw tie he and Beckett had ordered for their daughter. She was wearing her Ravenclaw robes as well and he said, "At least you'll be warm in that. Julia?"

"I'll be warm Daddy," the girl said, turning to him.

"No, I forgot to tell you that you look really close to how Maria did," Castle told her quickly.

Julia smiled, blushing a little at her father's sincerity, and she hugged him tightly saying, "You look really handsome too, Mommy thinks."

Castle couldn't help laughing at the way she'd turned that into a compliment from her mother and he said, "Thanks, you too Kate."

Beckett was about to open her mouth to reply when she heard the chime for the gate ringing. She smiled and said, "Go," so they would head down to open it for their guests. She held Eliza back and was about to pick her up when the little girl gasped and stepped away.

"No Mommy," Eliza told her seriously. "You will rip your dress!"

"I won't," Beckett replied. "It's a little loose." She then picked her daughter up and kissed her temple saying as she started down the stairs. "I wanted to tell you that you look like we'll be sending you off on the Express tomorrow."

Giggling Eliza said, "Do I?"

"Mmm-hmm," Beckett replied, kissing her forehead. She shared a kiss with Eliza after the little girl had thanked her and set her down as they had reached the foyer. "Who is it?" she asked her husband as he was looking outside with Julia.

"I think nearly everyone," Castle said. "The Fosters, Davises… Dawn and Peter too. Why didn't their parents come and Eliza-"

"Dani is my friend," the little girl interrupted him.

"Okay," Castle said slowly, looking at his wife who was just looking at him.

"What about Auntie Lanie?" Eliza asked.

"And _Tio_ Javi?" Julia added.

"They're on their way," Beckett assured them. "First it's everyone else. Hey," she said as Mari was first to appear.

"Happy Halloween!" the little girl replied before she was hugging Julia tightly. "You look like Maria! How do I look?" she asked her friend rapidly after stepping back for her to see.

"Perfect," Julia said with a nod. "If we dance we'll look really good."

"Yeah," Mari said. She turned to the others and waved saying, "Hi, thanks for the party."

"You're welcome," Castle said first before he watched as Mari went to Beckett to look at her dress. "You two look ready," he said to David and Rebecca who were stepping up onto the porch.

"Ready for what?" David said.

"Flying?" Jim suggested. "Those are great costumes," he told them as the two were wearing 30's aviator's clothes.

"Thanks, we did our best with them," Rebecca replied with a laugh as they stepped inside to get out of the way of the Davises and the two kids with them. "Here's our little Gryffindor," she said, setting Dani down.

"She looks adorable," Lily said from behind them.

"She does," Beckett agreed with a smile, the toddler wearing a uniform just like Eliza's but in the Gryffindor red and gold colors. "And you all look great too. Rick?"

"Um… fantastic? Authentic?" Castle said with a shrug before they laughed together. "But she's right; I wasn't expecting a family of pirates."

"They wanted in," Brad replied. "By the way, this is the only time I'm going to be lawless."

When Lily groaned Beckett asked, "He's been telling that joke?"

"A number of times already," Lily replied. "But look at Peter and Dawn; their parents left them off since we were there at the gate."

Seeing that Peter was wearing a tuxedo like Mari and Dawn was dressed like Julia Beckett said to the two, "You look fantastic too."

"Are there anymore words like that?" Peter asked jokingly.

"Come inside to the family room," Castle said laughingly. "We're just waiting for the last of the guests."

"Who are here," Martha said.

"Can you take them?" Beckett asked her mother in law. When Martha had done so with Jim she turned to the others and said, "Remember they're not staying for too long."

"We know… why did they come though?" Julia asked.

"They wanted to see us again, as we haven't since August," Castle replied.

"Oh," Julia said. "I'm glad they came," she said quickly in case her parents were wondering. "I just wondered." She smiled at her mother as she placed her hand on her back but then watched with them as they watched while the two cars parked in the driveway, away from the graveyard display they'd all set up that year and the others then stepped out. She waited a little impatiently for the group to reach the house, hoping that they were dressed up already as she couldn't quite see them yet until they got closer.


	2. Twas Halloween (Part 2)

"No costumes?" Castle called jokingly.

"We weren't about to go all the way in the car with them," Esposito replied as he was the first to step onto the patio. He had to turn his attention to the girls then as they threw themselves at him, greeting him. "I'm glad to see you two," he told them once they'd let go of him. "Let me see your costumes."

"Did our mommy tell you them?" Eliza asked.

"No," Lanie said, smiling as the girls rushed to her next. "So," she said once they'd parted. "You're from the Harry Potter books," she said to Eliza, smiling again as the little girl beamed and nodded at her. "And you…"

"I'm dressed like Maria for the Team Tango that she was in," Julia explained, knowing that likely wasn't going to be the last time she'd need to do that.

"I should introduce Dylan," Lanie said then with a smile, looking at the man who was behind her.

"I'm glad to meet you all," the soft spoken, tall British man said as he smiled at Castle, Beckett and the girls.

"We are too, Lanie's told me a lot about you," Beckett said first, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Hopefully good," Dylan replied with a smile before he shook Castle's hand.

"She did," he replied to the man.

"You look great girls," Jenny said as she and Ryan came up to them. She and her husband hugged them in greeting though she was doing so with one arm as she was holding the baby.

"Come inside," Beckett urged them. After her husband had closed the door she realized the four were looking at them and she let Tommy; who she'd been hugging in greeting; go back to his parents. "What?" she asked them.

"Who're you supposed to be?" Lanie asked.

"You didn't mention it to her?" Castle asked his wife in surprise.

With a smile Beckett shook her head and said, "We're dressed as Maria and Derek in their Paso Doble."

"Remember we were dressed as the two in their Quickstep last year," Castle reminded them.

"You look amazing Kate," Lanie said, touching the lace of her friend's sleeve.

"Tell that to Martha," Beckett replied as she held her arm out so Lanie could study it. She then said to them all, "Do you want to change first or see everyone?"

"Change," Ryan said.

"Go ahead and use the same rooms you stay in," Castle said before he and Beckett watched them go upstairs. "They're surprised," he told her once he knew they were out of hearing range.

With a slight smile Beckett replied, "It might be my costume. Maybe I should have gone with the fake fangs."

Castle was about to say something in his surprise when he realized she was smiling fully at him. "Maybe you should have," he replied with a smirk at her. When she just kept smiling he leaned over and gently kissed her on the lips before they parted and he said, "Should we go?"

"They won't take that long," Beckett replied before she pointed to the top of the stairs.

Hearing footsteps Castle called, "Is that a new costume or the same as last year."

"It's a different one," Esposito said as he came down the stairs.

"Nice," Beckett said with a smile as she saw he was wearing scrubs.

"Easiest thing to get," Esposito said. "Luckily I know someone who can get them."

"Lanie?" Castle asked.

"No, Dylan helped me out," Esposito replied.

"Thank you for not putting fake blood on yourself," Beckett said jokingly.

"Too many kids; and I can't freak out Ryan," Esposito said.

"Hey," the man said as he appeared at the top of the steps with his family. "Did everyone here do couples costumes?" Ryan asked as they went down the stairs.

"The Davises went with a whole family costume," Castle replied. "But it can work."

"It does for you both," Beckett said with a smile as Ryan and Jenny were dressed as a 40's baseball players. "Watched _A League of Their Own_ recently?" she said.

"I did, this was my idea," Jenny said.

"I don't mind it," Ryan said with a shrug.

"And Tommy and Danny look very cute," Beckett said as she looked at the two boys. The former was dressed as the Tin Man from _The Wizard of Oz_ and the baby in a lion costume. "They picked it?"

"Tommy did, he said he'd be the Tin Man and his brother the lion," Ryan said with a smile. "Should we go?"

"Wait, they're here," Castle said. "Nice," he called up to the pair as they descended.

"His idea," Lanie said, smiling as she and her boyfriend were in fighter pilot jumpsuits.

"What can I say? I love the movie _Top Gun_ ," Dylan said with a smile.

"Now we can start the party," Castle said before he and his wife led their guests into the family room.

It took some time for everyone to greet the newcomers and for the Hamptons guests to meet Dylan but once they had finished Castle and Beckett started the first game they had for the kids. While they were watching them playing musical chairs together, the adults talked and passed Danny around before the baby was falling asleep and the game was over.

* * *

"Have fun," Jenny said to her oldest son with a smile.

"Thank you for staying behind," Castle said to her.

"I don't mind and Danny's too little to join you," Jenny said. "Go and we'll see you when you get back."

"She's right, we need to go," Beckett reminded her husband.

"Okay, which way first?" Castle asked as they walked together to the sidewalk where the others were gathered.

"This way," Julia said, indicating the opposite direction from where they'd gone the year before.

Walking after them Beckett said to Lanie, "He didn't mind coming out here?"

"No," Lanie said simply. When she didn't say anything else and Beckett looked at her she shrugged saying, "I told him he could decide. Also, I think he wanted to meet you."

With a nod Beckett looked ahead where Dylan was and smiled saying, "He likes kids?"

"I told you his sister has a daughter," Lanie replied. "And he always tries to go to Newcastle now his sister's back there to see his niece."

"How is she doing?" Beckett asked.

"Great," Dylan said, approaching them. "So sorry, Julia and Mari are asking for you to join us at the first door."

Watching them go with all the kids up to the front of the first house Beckett turned to her husband and asked, "What is it?"

"Esposito and Ryan were asking me about being able to dance the Paso," Castle replied.

"And you told them we'd be able to, right?" Beckett said with a smirk.

"Just a few steps," Castle replied. "They want to see when we get back to the house."

Though Beckett wanted to sigh in frustration she merely nodded as their daughters were rushing to them to talk about the first candy they had gotten.

"We got the full-sized ones," Julia said as she held it out to her mother.

"You guys got lucky," Castle replied with a smile. "Are you done? Can we go home now?"

"No!" all the kids cried out as they could hear him.

"Then keep going!" Castle said, waving his hands to them.

When they had made their way through that neighborhood the group wound around the houses going up to the ones that Peter and Dawn lived in. They took as long as they could going that way and when they were about to stop at Peter's house Lanie stopped the others by talking to the four dressed for the Tango.

"You guys didn't show us your dance at all," the doctor told them.

"But…" Peter said first, looking around at the others.

"We should," Julia said. "We practiced," she added, looking at Dawn.

"Yeah, we did," the girl said with a slight smile.

"Do you need the music?" Castle asked as he reached into the pocket of his jacket for his phone. When the four all nodded he waited for them to get into hold before Julia was nodding at him to start the song.

Beckett was surprised when the two pairs immediately started to dance; as the one on the show hadn't done that; and she wondered if her daughter and Peter might have been able to choreograph the steps. When they stopped dancing shortly after; at about the halfway point of the song; she applauded with the others before realizing that there were more than just them. She'd seen Peter's mother come out to look already before she looked around and saw some of the people trick or treating were there as well. "You did a fantastic job," she said to Julia when she'd run straight to her.

"Thanks," the girl said, feeling less embarrassed about their sudden audience. "We made a lot of that up 'cause we couldn't do what they did in the dance."

"You made a good choice," Castle said before Julia went to say goodbye to Peter.

"It feels like it's too early Mommy," Eliza told her mother.

"We've been walking around for a while," Castle said before Beckett could reply to that at all. "And Tommy's asleep already," he said as he nodded over to the toddler in Ryan's arms.

"Oh," Eliza said before she sighed. She then brightened up and, as Julia was coming back to them so they could go to Dawn's house, asked, "Are you gonna dance for us?"

"We'll see," Beckett said first, glancing at her husband as he smiled at her. She took Eliza's hand and they walked together to the girl's house before they all said goodbye to Dawn.

"Thanks for letting me come," the girl called before she went up to the front door of her home.

Once Dawn was inside Ryan asked Castle and Beckett, "Are we going back?"

"We are," Beckett said first. "It's nearly time for Eliza to be in bed."

"We need to get going soon ourselves," Ryan replied.

"Too bad you couldn't have stayed," Castle commented.

"I know but we'll come back," Ryan assured them.

"We might try for Memorial Day weekend," Beckett said.

"You won't go on a trip?" Ryan asked.

"He's right," Esposito said. "You were in Vegas this year, weren't you?"

"We'll invite you over at some point close to the summer," Castle said in exasperation though he knew their words were meant to have elicited that reaction. "Just give us some time to see what our plans are then."

"Great, I'd love to come back," Esposito said.

Reaching over to her husband Beckett slipped her arm through his before he could say anything and they walked with their friends back to their home. "Have they slowed down?" she asked Jenny who was there at the open gate.

"They have, you don't have too much left," the woman replied, showing them the bowl she held.

"How's Danny?" Ryan asked.

"He's fine, still sleeping," Jenny said, taking their older son from him.

"What do we do now Mommy?" Eliza asked as they walked inside.

"Look at the candy," Castle said though he was looking at everyone from the city as he spoke.

"We're going to go," Ryan said after looking at his wife who nodded.

"Thank you for having us," Jenny said, squeezing Beckett's hand tightly.

"Wait," Ryan said, suddenly recalling. "What about your dance?"

"Oh god," Beckett said, about to cover her face with her hands. But before she could do that her husband was grabbing her hand to pull her into the house. "Rick…" she started to say.

"We don't need to dance that long," Castle told her reassuringly as he squeezed her hand. "Just like what we showed the girls."

Beckett felt slightly better; since what they knew from their class was a lot longer; and she nodded before they stepped into the parlor as it had the most free space.

"Are you gonna use any music?" Julia asked, having raced to keep up with her parents.

"I don't think so, we're not ready for that," Beckett said, feeling her daughter hugging her tightly against her side. She smiled and then started to speak again before suddenly she felt someone on her other side. "I'm okay you two," she told the girls with a laugh as she embraced them back.

"Ready?" Castle asked her as he saw everyone else was standing around the end of the room.

Though she still felt uneasy with the audience they had Beckett reached out to take his hand before they got into hold easily. When she nodded to him she smiled and then began to move with him, staying with the steps that kept them in hold. She found she was still enjoying it even knowing how many people were watching them, trying to remember the girls were among their friends and family too. Finally, they both stopped at the same time and she couldn't help laughing as there had been no discussion between them as to when they would stop. She looked to the others with him as they applauded and said, "Thank you, our dance teacher will be really glad you thought we did that well."

"Isn't she Julia's teacher?" Esposito asked as Ryan and Jenny were saying goodbye to the other guests.

"She is, she teaches one night to adults," Castle replied. "Are you going with them?" he asked.

"I have to," Esposito said, nodding. He then looked around before he said in Spanish, " _I haven't gotten anything since the murder back in August_."

" _She wouldn't deal_?" Castle asked as he and his wife had heard about the killer's revelation that she could reveal where Tyson was.

" _It wasn't to her liking she said_ ," Esposito said.

" _Which means she has no idea where he is_ ," Beckett commented with a sigh.

"We looked into Interpol," Ryan said, coming over to them and whispering as he didn't have another language he could speak in. "But nothing that would really show that Tyson's outside of the country… though we couldn't tell if he wasn't."

With a nod Beckett said, "Thank you for trying though… it can't be easy to keep doing this."

"For our nieces it is," Esposito said quickly.

"You better say goodbye to everyone," Ryan told his partner after he'd nodded in agreement with what he'd said. "Jenny wants to go."

After the detective had done that the party went out to the front to see them off before the Davises were leaving and soon after the Fosters.

"This was the best Halloween," Mari was telling Julia after they'd embraced one another.

"Yeah, what do we do next year?" she said with a wide smile.

"Um…" Mari said.

Beckett; sharing a glance with Rebecca; was about to tell them they could decide later when her daughter spoke first.

"Why don't we wear our robes?" Julia said, smiling widely.

"Hey!" Eliza said in protest.

"You can wear them again next year if you want," Castle said in a rush.

"Can I?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Of course," Julia said with a smile. She then hugged her friend again and said, "At least next year Dawn won't need to dance."

Nodding Mari said, "Maybe they'll dress up like we will."

"Good idea," Julia said with a nod. "And maybe next year we can wear our costumes to school."

"They were going to wear them today?" Esposito said in a low tone to Castle who he was next to.

"They had historical dresses for school but we decided not to because of the weather," he replied.

At that point, the Fosters were saying goodbye to them all together before they left the front yard and then walked to their house. Since they were the last to leave the party the rest went back inside and Castle and Beckett took Eliza upstairs once she had said goodnight to everyone else.

"But my candy," the little girl said in protest.

"We'll look at it tomorrow once you and your sister are back from school," Beckett said before she helped Eliza into her pajamas and took her to the bathroom so she could brush her teeth.

"How was your Halloween?" Castle asked with a smile as he sat down next to Eliza once she was on her bed.

With a sleepy smile the little girl said, "The best."

"I think that's all you're going to get out of her love," Beckett said, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder when their youngest merely yawned instead of saying anything else.

"Still it's good to hear," Castle said with a smile at her before he turned his attention back to their daughter. "I love you sweetheart."

"Love you Daddy," Eliza mumbled, trying to keep her eyes open.

Switching quickly with her husband then Beckett was quick to share a kiss with Eliza as he'd done before she said, "I love you too Eliza, sweet dreams."

"Too Mommy," the little girl mumbled again before she let her mother lay her down.

After she had tucked Eliza in Beckett pressed a kiss to her youngest's forehead before she watched Castle doing the same. She let him take her hand and they walked together out of the room after patting Rita on the head. "She only has ten minutes," she commented when they were nearly at the bottom of the stairs.

"I wonder if she knows," Castle said before they stood in the doorway of the family room. He searched it for their oldest and soon found her with Jim, talking to him with a smile on her face.

"How are you?" Lanie said, grabbing Beckett's hand as Castle watched over the couch.

"Fine," Beckett said slowly. "Why?"

"Nothing, I'm just amazed watching you," Lanie said as they remained in the doorway.

"I've had five years to adapt to civil-" Beckett began to say.

"No not that, being a mother," Lanie said. When Beckett turned to face her she quickly said, "I don't see you that often I'm still getting used to it."

About to reply Beckett heard her daughter calling to her and she said, "Don't waste time." She could hear Lanie getting ready to voice a protest when Dylan walked up to her to bring her into the room. She focused her attention then on Julia, sitting with Castle on the couch before their oldest came to them. "How are you doing sweetie?"

"Good, I didn't eat any candy," Julia replied with a wide smile. "Grandpapa said I have to go to bed soon."

"He's right," Beckett replied, pulling her onto her lap. She then wrapped her arms around her and said, "You only have enough time to say goodnight to everyone."

"How come you're still holding me?" Julia asked, still smiling.

"I want to ask you something," Beckett said to her lovingly.

"Okay," Julia said, pulling her head back enough so she could look at her mother and wondering what she wanted to ask.

"Can I stay with you while you get ready for bed?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah," Julia said with a soft giggle. "Now I have to say goodnight?"

"You do," Castle said as his wife was helping her down from her lap.

Watching as the girl went around to everyone Beckett was slightly surprised when she waited to say goodbye to Lanie last but had a feeling then as to why she had done that when she reached the woman.

"I'll see you again baby girl," the doctor was saying as Julia was embracing her tightly.

"Could you come to see my competition?" the girl asked when she had pulled away enough to look at her.

"We were talking about that," Lanie said, smiling at Dylan. "And we will but we need to leave right away after."

"Are you gonna go to England for Thanksgiving?" Julia asked.

"No, to see my parents," Lanie replied.

"Oh, to meet you," Julia said, smiling at Dylan. She then became serious and said, "They'll like you."

"I hope you're right," the man said with a nod, looking serious a well before they smiled at each other.

"Good night Julia," Lanie said. "Thank you."

"Welcome," the girl said, knowing she was talking about what she'd said to the man. She went over to her parents and they walked together upstairs before she and Beckett went into her room. "They will like him, right?" she asked her mother as she was taking the hat off her head.

"I'm sure they will," Beckett replied.

"You didn't do that," Julia said as her mother took her coat and then helped her untie her bow tie.

"We didn't need to," Beckett said easily. "Your grandpapa met your daddy to talk to him about me and I met your gram after I had to arrest your daddy when we first met."

"I remember," Julia said with a soft laugh as her mother had told her the story before.

"And we did have a dinner together," Beckett added, pulling Julia's pajama shirt down though she could have taken care of it herself. "Though you know that didn't work out too, too well."

"I'm glad they get along together now," Julia said with a smile.

"Me too," Beckett said. "Rick," she called.

Coming inside immediately Castle told them, "So am I, we were concerned what was going to happen at holidays when we got together."

"That was you Rick," Beckett said with a sigh though she smiled at him soon after. "But everything's fine now."

"It is," Jim said in the doorway.

"He's right," Martha said. "We're going to bed; leave you two to talk with Lanie and Dylan."

"Thank you," Castle said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, we'll see you at breakfast," Beckett told them, waving to the two before they disappeared out of sight to go down the hall.

"I'll be back," Julia said when her parents then turned to her.

" _They will like him, right_?" Castle asked his wife as their daughter was brushing her teeth.

" _I think so, he treats her very respectfully_ ," Beckett answered in Irish as well.

"I asked your sister," Castle said then as Julia walked out into the room. "How was her Halloween, I want to know how it went for you too."

"It was perfect," Julia said with a smile as she then hopped up onto the bed. "We got to see everyone; I got to win a game and played with my friends. Danced with Mari and then we went around and got candy. It was perfect."

"We're glad to hear-" Beckett began to say as she got out of the way for Castle to say goodnight to her.

"And you and Daddy got to dance," Julia said, smiling at her after interrupting.

"I forgot to ask you," Castle said, sitting on the edge of the bed after the girl had tucked her legs under the covers. "How'd we do?"

"Good, it's a good thing you're in love since you need to be so intense in the dance," Julia said. "And you did that," she added as she jerked her body before freezing as they had done earlier.

"How are you going to do that with Peter?" Castle couldn't help asking though he'd seen his daughter doing that with her partner before several times.

"Daddy," Julia said in exasperation with a slight sigh. "I know how to act 'cause of Gram."

"True," Castle said. "And I can imagine your mom is looking behind me telling me in her mind that we need to let you go to sleep."

"She is," Julia giggled, smiling over his shoulder at her mother.

"Okay, then sweet dreams Julia and I love you," Castle told her.

"I love you too Daddy, thanks for tonight," Julia replied before she hugged him tightly and they shared a kiss.

"You're welcome," Castle replied, squeezing her a bit before he then stood up and let Beckett sit where he'd been.

"You looked so perfect Mommy," Julia said. "Or…"

"Ideal… faultless, or-" Castle started to say when the girl looked to him.

"I get the idea," Beckett said as she cut him off though she was smiling. "And thank you, both of you."

"What are you gonna wear next year?" Julia asked. She gasped and said, "Wear robes and the Hogwarts uniform too."

"We'll try to think of something," Beckett said before her husband could reply to that. She squeezed his hand as he was next to her and nodded to Macca so he would say goodnight to the dog. "I love you sweetie. And you looked very pretty tonight too; you're growing up I still think. And I'm very proud of you."

"For the dance?" Julia asked shyly. When her mother nodded she threw her arms around her and then said, "I love you too Mommy. And I'm proud of you too."

"Thanks," Beckett said slightly laughingly. "Get some sleep okay?"

"Okay," Julia said, scratching Macca's head as he'd come over to her. "Night," she said before she laid down.

After standing Beckett tucked her in before she and Castle kissed her foreheads and then left their oldest to sleep. They checked on Eliza together before making their way down to the family room where they found Lanie and Dylan still sitting and talking together.

"Everyone set?" Lanie asked as she and her boyfriend watched the two walking up to them.

"They are," Castle said first. "So, what would you like to know?"

"How did you know?" Lanie said with a smile.

"We guessed," Beckett said as she knew what her husband was talking about.

"Well your case out in LA," Lanie said. "We heard about it even here."

"Ryan and Esposito told us," Castle said with a nod. "It wasn't exactly easy."

"Especially at the Getty," Beckett said with a sigh. "But everything is set."

"Will you have to go back there for the trial?" Dylan asked.

"No," Beckett answered. "They took a video deposition from us both and they're using that."

"We didn't want to leave since we just did that," Castle added. "And we missed the girls enough."

"At some point…" Beckett said jokingly to Lanie as she looked to her.

"I know," the doctor replied. "I'm also glad to see you like this as a mother I forgot to mention."

With a smile Beckett then said, "So you're going to Louisiana for Thanksgiving."

"It's time my parents met him," Lanie said. "That and my mother won't leave me alone about it."

"I'm not worried," Dylan said quickly as the two looked to him. "I've heard some conversations she's had with them and they seem quite nice."

"They are," Beckett said with a nod, having met Lanie's parents the few times the couple had visited to the city. "Are you sure you need to go to work tomorrow?"

"If I want to take off for Thanksgiving then yes," Lanie said first.

"Actually, we've got the day before it as well; which is why we can go see your daughter's performance," Dylan added.

"I'm eager for that," Lanie said. "I haven't seen her dance in a long time."

"She's got a marathon dance this time," Beckett said. "And a special guest judge."

"Really? She's nervous?" Lanie asked.

"A little, she's trying to focus on the dances more," Beckett replied.

"Well," Dylan said as he'd been looking at his watch. "I would hate to say this but we need to go Lane," he told her.

"I know," the doctor said with a sigh. They all stood and as Dylan and Castle went to the foyer she embraced her friend tightly. "Tell me how Tahiti goes when I see you next time."

"That's not for over two weeks," Beckett replied. "But I will. And thank you for coming though you didn't have the chance to stay too long."

"Are you going to do this again next year?" Lanie asked while they were walking down the hall.

"Of course," Beckett said, smiling at Castle as she knew he was listening. "I know it'll be on a Saturday so stay over."

"We will," Lanie said before hugging Castle quickly before she watched her two friends shaking her boyfriend's hand. "Thanks, good night," she said with a smile, waving to them.

Staying on the porch until the car was outside the gate Castle pressed the button to close it once they were inside before he said, "Cold?" as his wife had her arms crossed tightly.

"A little," Beckett said before she watched him lock the door.

Castle didn't say a word; instead he took her hand and gently pulled her after him so they could make their way up the staircase there.

* * *

The movement of the flames sputtered slightly as if reacting to the heavy breaths of the two standing in front of it. But when they parted Castle and Beckett took no notice of anything else but themselves, smiling at one another.

"I think I like this dance a lot better," Beckett said to her husband as they'd been swaying gently though they didn't have any music.

"I know," Castle replied. "But I think any dance with this kind of hold will be good." He expected her to call him pervert but when he didn't hear it he looked down at her. "Nothing?" he asked.

"Nothing," Beckett said. "Believe me, I agree with you too."

With a smile Castle leaned down and kissed his wife deeply before they parted and he said, "Can I…"

Not surprised when he didn't continue Beckett brushed her lips against his before she whispered to him, "Yes."

Shuddering as she was so trusting of him Castle nodded and then took her over to their bed, having her sit down on the end of it. Once she was there he knelt in front of her and then told her, "I'm wondering if we can keep things simple." When he saw the surprise in her eyes he continued telling her, "But I'll still fuck you if you want."

"Oh good, I thought I was going to have to demand that," Beckett said in a jokingly serious tone with a smile on her face. That soon fell off as she was shivering heavily when he ran his hand underneath her barefoot. "Yours-" she began.

"I've got it," Castle replied, toeing his dance shoes off. He then sat down next to her and told her, "I didn't want to just jump into bed."

"Okay," Beckett said, wondering why he was saying that. She had her answer a second later when he was suddenly pulling her onto their bed and she was soon laying down, looking at him as he hovered above her. "Rick?" she asked.

With a slight smile Castle then bowed his head and he kissed her deeply on the lips before his tongue slipped into her mouth. They were tangling around each other until they were slowly parting and he told her, "Do you want to stop?"

When Beckett grabbed him and pulled him up to her Castle was responding immediately and they were passionate as their tongues passed back and forth in between one another. When they were breathless they parted but only for so long before they were back together again and doing the same thing over again. It wasn't until they absolutely needed to breathe that the two did so and they stared at each other before one of them spoke first to break the silence of the room.

"You… you seem a little desperate," Beckett said.

"I am," Castle said, following her when she suddenly sat up. He watched her, a little breathless, as she unpinned the bun in her hair before he watched with his mouth watering at the sight of her locks tumbling around her shoulders. When she turned around to face away from him he said, "Wait, I didn't-"

"It's alright, we can't really do this in costumes," Beckett interrupted.

"No, not this," Castle said quickly. He made her turn back to him and he then pulled on the skirt of her dress until her legs were halfway exposed. He then slid his hand up on the side of her right leg and he said, "I just wanted to play with you a little."

"You always do," Beckett said.

Hearing the slight protest that was in her voice Castle glanced up at her and said, "Then play with me."

Beckett tried not to smirk and instead she reached for him and helped him take off his jacket. Once it was out of the way she pulled his shirt from his trousers and stopped there before she laid her hand directly on his groin, watching him hissing heavily in reaction as she slowly pressed some weight down on it. When he soon after grabbed her hand she smiled and said, "Too much?"

"A little," Castle said seriously. He looked at his wife and seeing her staring down at him almost hungrily asked, "What is it?"

"Let me see," Beckett told him. She half expected him to protest but when he reached down to his fly she reached for him and stopped him saying, "Now that you will…" And with that she ripped open his shirt before they together swept away the buttons that she reminded herself in the back of her mind to pick up the next day. They were out of the way and she tugged his shirt away before finally his chest was exposed. As he was removing it she leaned down, kissing around his bare skin hungrily before he pulled her up.

Castle then opened his fly as soon as his wife was looking at him and he wasn't all that surprised when she slapped his hands out of the way to pull his heavy erection out. What did startle him was when she then proceeded to rub around him, sliding up and down with just her index finger and thumb. Groaning hard he couldn't help letting her do that for just a while longer before he had to stop her, pulling her away and then almost throwing her down on her back. "I-" he started to say as they looked at one another.

"Please," Beckett told him, knowing what he wanted in that moment. She got back up again with his help and then they hurriedly got her dress off and his trousers and boxers off. After she was partially naked and he was fully she was going to ask him why he hadn't done the same for her when she was on her back once again. Breathing roughly, she felt him kissing through the lace of her panties before he moved around her legs. She tried her best to reach down to stop him when he was suddenly moving and that time pressing his lips directly against her entrance. She cried out, as it was a little sensitive, and that time hauled him up to her so they could kiss.

Responding to his wife as intently as he could Castle could feel his wife moving against him and he knew he had to get them started before they finished too soon. Pulling away from her he said, "Help me."

Nodding Beckett waited for him to sit up where she'd been laying before she straddled him and together they worked to get her panties out of the way. She was on her knees as they coupled but the second they were joined she was moving her legs, hearing him groan in response to her movements before she then placed her feet flat on his hips. She leaned back and then placed her hands on his legs and with that leverage she then began to move, crying out at their first thrust as he was able to get deep within her. She didn't hesitate from that moment, instead continued until she was fast and their hips were smacking together. She watched her husband, seeing the struggle on his face, and waited to see if he would act on what he so obviously wanted to do. After a little more time he moved and; to her relief; he was doing exactly what she'd known he'd wanted to do to her delight.

Leaning over slightly Castle cupped his hands over his wife's breasts before he somehow; how he could never figure out; pulled her up closer to him though she was still leaning back. Since he wasn't on his knees he didn't have enough leverage to move against her but tried his best until she was suddenly moving and wrapping her arms around him. With her feet still on his hips they were both a little unable to move and he said, "We need-"

Though she had to stop fully Beckett moved to sit on her knees and as soon as she had she leaned over and kissed him hard. As he clutched at her back she was running her hands over the back of his head until they were parting. "Do you want to…?" she began to ask. When he shook his head, she kissed him again and then began to move, going slowly at first to get his attention before she proceeded to speed up though she took her time to get to where they'd been before. While she was doing that she wasn't surprised when he bowed his head and then began to kiss around her collarbone. He was doing that for a while before he eventually made his way to her breasts. She allowed him to press on her back enough so she arched it slightly and then watched as he trailed his lips over both mounds. She was trembling heavily as his touch was an added pleasure to what she was already feeling and she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to really stand it. But she did her best to continue, enjoying everything he was making her feel before she finally had to stop.

Castle watched as she got off him and lay on the bed, panting heavily; before he leaned down to kiss her. When she suddenly grasped his member he hissed and broke things off before he said, "What-"

"I couldn't help it," Beckett replied, trying not to smile too widely at his reaction.

"Me too," Castle admitted. He watched her as she studied him and said, "Disappointed?"

"In what?" Beckett asked slightly laughingly.

"Nothing," Castle said, shrugging.

"Are you fishing?" Beckett replied as he moved to lie next to her.

"Slightly," Castle said, draping his leg over both of hers before he began to kiss her. He was quick to kiss her lips before he was trailing down to her breasts as she cried out and sighed in pleasure. He gently fondled her mounds before he couldn't wait anymore and got fully on top of her. " _I adore you_ ," he told her seriously before he slid inside of her.

A heavy groan of pleasure leaving her lips Beckett was unable to speak as she felt every second her husband was moving inside of her clearly. But once he'd stopped and was fully coupled with her she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and told him after she'd propped herself up on her elbows, " _So do I_ Rick, _fuck me please_." He was very quick to do as she'd asked and she was crying out heavily in joy since he was immediately fast and she found he was deep in her again. Her nails dragging over his back as her right arm instinctively reached up to him she whispered, "Don't stop… please."

"I won't…" Castle breathed. He looked at her and carefully pressed her shoulder before he told her, "I'll tell you," as she was looking at him a little indignantly. Once she was lying down fully he whispered into her ear for a bit before pulling back.

"Okay," Beckett breathed as the excitement in his idea hit her rapidly. "Move…" she tried to say before she faltered. She bit at her lower lip and said, "Slowly… deliberately." She was relieved when he nodded quickly and began to do exactly what she had asked for. He wasn't moving fast but since he was following her request to move deliberately she could feel him as she had when he'd entered her. It was enough to make her cry out and she did her best to move with him as the pleasure was getting intense and quickly. She recalled what he'd asked her to do so she told him, "Make love to me."

Breathing out heavily Castle then slowed down and he watched her closely to see her reaction to him as she followed him. He loved the way she bit at her lower lip while their hips rolled together instead of smacking and he leaned down to take both her lips. He was a little gentle before his wife was suddenly deepening it and he groaned heavily when her tongue snaked out to curl around his. Dueling with her for some time Castle finally pulled away and pressed her cheek against his. Feeling her hand slide down the back of his head to his neck he shuddered before kissing her gently that time, unable to help himself with that.

The two continued together in the same way, Beckett would tell Castle what she wanted him to do and he would immediately before she told him something else. They stopped a few times here and there until they couldn't take it anymore and parted from their kiss as they panted.

"I… I need to come love… I can't… stop," Beckett moaned, feeling her body beginning to writhe beneath his as he was holding her hips up at an angle while he drove down into her.

"Then come, you know I'll follow you Kate," Castle breathed, trying not to pant too heavily with his exertions though he was slightly damp from sweat because of that. "I can't… stop… fucking… following you… I need… you," he hissed out through his teeth that were clenched together hard. He watched his wife, wanting to see when she would be close and as he was doing that he realized she was there.

With a slight cry of joy Beckett arched her back, that time fully, and she cried out his name repeatedly, knowing the way her voice was tinged it was the extent of her ecstasy. She didn't stop, feeling as if her senses were all intensified with the way her husband felt as he began to orgasm with her. She was holding onto him as tightly as she could with her arms and legs wrapped around him, taking every thrust that he made before she was slowing down. She tried to keep going but her body was drained and finally she ceased all her motions as she felt him taking the last of his pleasure in her while he chanted her name.

Castle was breathing hard at the moment he stopped and he murmured her name before he pressed his face into her neck. He was trying to calm down but found it difficult as his wife was gently stroking his hair. He finally felt he could do so and he raised his head, looking down at her and saying, "I love you Kate."

"I love you too Rick," Beckett replied, a smile on her face before he lowered his head to hers. She took his kiss eagerly, knowing that they were going to make love again, and she prepared her body for him though she was more than ready for him.

* * *

The sound of waves breaking on the shore was muffled, the patter of rain on the windows slightly louder but all were drowned out by the heavy breathing that was coming from the bed.

Castle could feel his wife's breaths with the rise and fall of her stomach which his hand was on top of at that moment. He'd carefully parted from her after their last bout and was exhausted; able to tell when her hand grasped his that she was the same too. "So, it was a great night," he said. When she turned her head he said, "Not just this."

"Pervert," Beckett replied before she turned and pressed tightly against his side. "Rick?" she asked after they'd been silent for a while, feeling his hand sliding onto her abdomen again.

"Yeah?" Castle said, kissing her forehead.

Beckett was going to speak but then just smiled at him as he was looking at her and she leaned up enough to kiss him gently. When he responded she reached up to cup his cheek with her hand until they slowly parted. Pressing their foreheads together she finally murmured, "We should get some sleep."

About to protest Castle remembered it was a school night and he said, "I forgot about school."

Watching as he sat up to grab the sheets at the bottom of the bed Beckett ran her fingers over his back and told him, " _It was a nice night though_."

Smiling at her as he covered them and then laid down Castle said, "Hopefully we'll get to repeat it."

Leaning over to kiss him again Beckett said, "Maybe if you win next Sunday we can."

"You're going to make me wait until then?" Castle said incredulously.

With a smile Beckett stretched her body so her arms rose above her head before she said, "Or that Saturday, to keep you from getting too nervous."

"Thank you," Castle replied. He smiled when his wife laughed and she kissed him before he held her tightly to his side. "Night my love," he told her.

"Night Rick," Beckett murmured before they kissed one last time. She then settled herself close to him and let herself relax to sleep as she could feel him doing next to her. He preceded her she could tell and she tried to push away her concerns to follow him as she took comfort in his embrace and the satiation their night had brought to fall asleep herself.


	3. Listen For Your Footsteps

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Since this chapter is so short I'll be posting the next one in a few hours. So if anyone wants to continue the story look out for that!

A/N #2: It was really nice to see the feedback I got for the last chapter so will get right to my thank yous for that! MichelleBell16 (It's nice to see you're glad to read another story for the series. And it's great that you thought it was really nice to read about everyone together, not surprised you included everyone from the city too there for Halloween. Also, not surprised you mentioned that it was brief. But I was happy to read that you're looking forward to more!), MsNYC (I did know that you love flashbacks so I'm glad you loved the one in this chapter of course! I'm glad that you enjoyed Halloween and that you thought I wrote that well since I actually don't really celebrate it anymore, lol, though I do like the idea of dressing up being for everyone and not for kids. With that I'm glad you thought everyone from the city is the best, I figured readers would enjoy that, lol. And I'm so glad you thought the costumes were great since I just made those up on the fly except for the family's. But I'm so glad you know the costume for Beckett and you thought that was especially great as I like that costume myself. Not surprised you have your fingers crossed for a Caskett baby still, figured that would still be there. And so nice to see you thought it was great writing as always!),  
TORONTOSUN (It was nice you like they're still dressing up for Halloween since I do love writing that; I figured they would since they have the kids of course, lol. And I'm not surprised that you too like how everyone in the city was in the chapter, as I said I figured readers would like that so I'm glad I was right!) and  
vetgirlmx (I was really pleased to see you thought it was both a very nice chapter and very nice start for the story, I'll take both, lol. And I'm not surprised you loved that everyone was in the chapter though yeah, I could only fit in Alexis and Louis in the flashback but did want to show them getting moved in. And I'm so glad you liked the bit where Castle told Beckett about Alexis calling them parents. To be completely honest I added that because of what you said about him telling her and I thought he should, so you were right about knowing, lol. I am really happy you thought his way of telling that was perfect and that you thought Beckett's response was both surprised and flattered, I thought she would react that way and of course I'm happy you liked it a lot. Oh and very pleased you liked Lanie's boyfriend and that you want to see him again soon, you just might, lol. So glad you too enjoyed their costumes and could see them vividly as I only had Castle, Beckett's, Julia and the other three as pictures- they can be found on a search engine if you'd want to see how they actually looked on Dancing With the Stars. But I wasn't surprised you'd kill to see a group photo of them, me too, lol. And it's great to know that even with this story only one chapter in you're eager to see what happens next and now you can.  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them as usual and appreciate greatly the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Don't Pass Me By_ by The Beatles, from their album _The Beatles_ (aka _The White Album_ ).

Listen For Your Footsteps

The game was in full swing and she watched it with a smile on her face, not surprised the blue, white and green colored polo shirts seemed to be taking charge nearly at half-time. She watched as the head rider scored a goal and applauded with the others before she turned to see if the 'tradition' the Hamptons talked about during the polo season would happen.

As the announcer was calling the score the woman was stepping up onto the rails of the fence and the observer smiled at the sight of the two. But she then began to frown as she recalled why she was there and she walked away before she nearly ran into someone. "Sorry," she mumbled before getting out of their way.

"Hey, Polly? Polly is that you?" the man said after he turned around to get a better look at her.

"Hey," the woman said, turning herself. She smiled slightly before she said, "I need to-"

"Tell me how you've been, how're you enjoying the game?" the man asked as he held onto her hand.

"I really need to go," the woman replied, trying to pull away from him.

"Why are you blowing me off?" the man said, stopping her with his other hand. "I'm just trying to talk to you, you kind of left without a word last night."

"I was feeling sick," the woman said. "Maybe I'll give you a call later and we can go out again."

"Will you promise?" the man asked, still not letting her go.

"Excuse me," an officer said, coming up to them. "Is this man bothering you?"

"Oh no, we're just friends talking about tonight," the man said first.

"I need to go," the woman said.

"Sorry," the man said after the woman he'd recognized raced away from them. "I was just… she and I had dinner and then she just kind of ran out after we'd been talking. I was interested in her so seeing her I thought…"

"That's great but she didn't really want to talk," the officer said.

"I know, it's weird we used to know each other in high school," the man replied with a nervous laugh.

"Keep going," the officer replied. "You might want to leave her alone."

"I will," the man said, walking away from the officer hurriedly.

Hiding behind a tree the woman breathed out as she watched the man finally leaving the area and going opposite to where she needed to go. As soon as she could; and hoping she wouldn't miss the officer; she rushed over to the woman and grabbed her arm. "Officer," she said hopefully.

"Yes ma'am, are you sure you're alright," the officer said in concern after seeing it was her.

"No, please take this," the woman said before she then ran off.

"Wait!" the officer replied before she took off after the woman. But since there was a break in the game the crowd was milling around and soon made her lose sight of the woman. Looking down at her hand she reached for her walkie-talkie and called into her station as she started to search over the grounds to try to find her.

At the same time, the woman had reached the building she'd been searching for and she looked around to make sure that the coast was as clear as it would be for her. What helped was the whistle blew on the field and she glanced back behind her as the horses were taking off again. She watched for a moment and then went back inside, looking around to try and see the names.

But the woman stopped soon after she had begun to work around the room when she realized that there were no labels and she had no real idea of where she needed to go. Breathing out she glanced around the room again before she saw what she hoped was a room. She knew her only option was to wait for the end of the game and see them face to face though she knew it was going to be a risk. Hesitating she looked at the doorway out before she made up her mind and then stepped into the room. She kept the door opened just slightly before she saw a light switch.

Flipping it on she swore when she saw it was a janitor's closet but she couldn't move as she abruptly heard footsteps and voices outside, just managing to get the lights off in time.

"I think he said the mallets are over there," the voice said.

"Just grab them and we'll go back the game's going to be over soon," another called, obviously from the doorway.

"Found them," the voice said as there was the clattering of something in their hands. "Let's go."

Breathing out when the room was silent again the woman peeked through what there was of the doorway. She was going to step back to lean against the wall opposite when she suddenly felt someone behind her. Before she could react and question how someone had gotten into the closet with her she felt something poking hard into the side of her neck. She hissed out and was soon collapsing, dead before she hit the floor.

The figure stepped over the woman once they were sure they were dead and walked out, tossing the syringe into the trash before they ran. Their job finished they had no other idea but to run and tried to do so before they would be caught or seen; before the horror they'd wrought was discovered.


	4. Love Only You

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Just want to make a quick note that in this series unless I mention something specific from them, the episodes after _Secret Santa_ don't apply to my stories.

A/N #2: I was very happy to see that I was able to get feedback though it wasn't too long before I posted this chapter so I definitely want to get to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (It was great to read first off that you thought it was very chilling since I'm aiming for that! And of course, pleased to see you thought it was great suspense and writing!).  
Thanks so much for the review, I loved reading it and appreciate the time taken to write it out and send it to me!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Don't Pass Me By_ by The Beatles, from their album _The Beatles_ (aka _The White Album_ ).

Love Only You

24 Hours Earlier

"Macca, Rita cut it out you guys," Castle said, turning his attention from what he was trying to do to the two dogs who were play-fighting. He whistled and wasn't surprised when the dogs stopped and looked up at him. "Don't give me those eyes you two aren't really puppies anymore," he told them, pointing the shears at them. When they began to pant he gave a mock growl of annoyance and said, "I can't resist when you smile, come here." He knelt and then was promptly knocked over when the two large dogs galloped into him.

Laughing he did the best he could to calm to the two as they were licking at his face when suddenly Castle heard the chime for the gate in front ringing dimly. He sighed and said to the dogs, "I was hoping that would be Kate and the girls." He got up and picked up the flowers he'd cut before he walked to the kitchen, leaving them there before he went to the intercom in the foyer. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Hello again kitten, it's me," the voice on the other end said cheerfully.

* * *

"Sweetie stop moving I need to clean your face," Beckett said slightly laughingly to Eliza.

"Don't wanna Mommy," the little girl protested though she finally did so. After her mouth was clean from the mustard on her sandwich she said, "Now what Mommy."

"You can go play," Beckett replied, nodding to the playground equipment. It was the Saturday before Castle's polo game and she had taken the girls out for a small picnic lunch to leave the house to her husband for a short while. That night they were going to have a family dinner, though for some reason without Martha. "Are you sure-" she started to say to her mother in law who was with them.

"Again, I'm fine I'll be with good friends," Martha assured her. "And Richard could use the antics of the girls to lighten his nervousness."

"Daddy says he's not that," Eliza said, looking back and forth between them.

"He still is," Julia told her little sister seriously.

"Oh," Eliza said before looking at her mother.

"There's only so much I can do for him girls," Beckett told them. "He won't calm down until he's playing."

Sighing Julia said, "I wish he wouldn't be."

"Remember when you're about to dance at competitions kiddo," Martha said. "He's the same way."

Biting at her lower lip for a moment; as her grandmother's words made her recall her own competition that was coming up; Julia nodded and then said, "Do we go play now?"

"Do you not want your dessert?" Beckett asked the girls with a smile as Eliza was almost standing up.

"Cookie!" Eliza said.

"Don't eat it like Cookie Monster," Beckett said as she handed them to the two. She was slightly surprised when they came over to her then and wrapped her arms around them while they pressed against her.

"What-" Julia started to say.

"Don't talk with your mouth full sweetie," Beckett told her quickly.

Julia swallowed her bite of the chocolate chip cookie before she said, "Sorry, but what's Daddy going to do now?"

"I have no idea," Beckett said. She couldn't suppress a smile when the two looked at her in surprise and said, "He can decide what to do on his own."

"Will he tell us?" Eliza asked.

"Ask him when we get home and see," Beckett replied.

Realizing that there had been only two cookies in the container their mother had brought Julia broke off a piece of hers and she said, "Want a piece?"

"Thank you," Beckett replied. She saw that they were finished with their cookies after eating her piece and she got up to go with them to the playground.

"You're not gonna go on the slide Mommy?" Eliza asked as she was at the top of the smallest one.

"No sweetie, I'll let you guys do that," Beckett replied, watching from the side. "Go ahead and play or you'll lose all your time to do that."

"Kay," Eliza said before she sat down. She squealed as she came down before she giggled when her mother helped her up off the wood chips. "I fell," she told her.

"I saw that, you were a little too fast," Beckett replied, brushing off her hands. When Eliza hissed as she was doing that to her lower right palm she asked, "Do you have a splinter?"

"I think so," Eliza replied.

"Is she okay?" Julia asked as she rushed to her mother after going down the slide and seeing them go to the bench where Martha had been sitting and watching them.

"She will be," Beckett said, sitting and drawing Eliza onto her lap. She then carefully looked at her daughter's palm and could see the splinter; though just barely. "Hum for me the song that you learned about the frog and the toad in school," she told Eliza to distract her. When the little girl was singing it then used her fingers and with a quick tug pulled the sliver of wood out. "There," she said when Eliza suddenly stopped her song.

"Is it gone?" the little girl asked in shock.

"It is," Beckett said, kissing her temple. "Let's go wash your hands." She let Eliza walk with her before she then noticed that Julia was coming with them. "You don't need-"

"I want to," Julia said. As they were walking then she asked her mother, "How much time do we have to play?"

"Not much, lunch took a while," Beckett said, glancing at the time. They'd left home at around ten thirty, and until they'd eaten lunch an hour later she and Martha had been watching the girls together playing around the playground. "So, when we're finished we should go on the swings; if you want."

"I do," Eliza said before they were stepping into the restrooms and her mother was picking her up to help her to the sink.

After they were finished the three walked back out and talking to Martha went to the swings while Castle's mother watched them, smiling as they were still talking while they were using them.

"What are we gonna do next?" Julia asked.

"We need to stop at the market," Beckett reminded her. "For our dinner."

"Oh… what are you making?" Julia said.

"We," Beckett said. When her daughter looked at her in confusion she smiled and said, "You're helping us. And your daddy wants to make something different." She wasn't surprised when both girls asked what and she said, "He doesn't want to tell you."

"But we'll see," Eliza told her.

"You will and that's when he wants you to find out," Beckett replied. She stopped and said, "But he also forgot we're going together to the market and you'll figure things out."

After she and her sister stopped laughing Julia said, "Do we need to go?"

"We should," Beckett replied, taking Eliza off her swing as the little girl was gripping the chains of the swing tightly.

"Are you gonna come with us?" Eliza asked, holding onto her grandmother's hand once she'd reached her.

"Of course," Martha replied. "Unless you want me to walk home."

"You can come with us," Eliza said quickly, nodding her head.

"Thank you," Martha said laughingly as they watched Beckett and Julia gathering their things. "Wonderful the weather held out."

"It should tomorrow too," Beckett replied. "Rick's been constantly checking to make sure it's not supposed to rain tomorrow." She then focused her attention to Eliza, getting her set in her car seat. Once Julia was ready next to her she got in the driver's seat and left the park before they reached the market near home. When they were inside she went straight to the meat section and spoke with the butcher there before she had their dinner wrapped up in white paper and turning to the girls and her mother in law she placed it in their smaller cart.

"Are you gonna make a Sunday roast?" Julia asked in surprise.

"We are," Beckett replied with a smile. "Your daddy picked it out since he wanted to have it again."

"What about the Yorkshire pudding?" Julia said as they continued through the store.

"He knows how to make it," Martha told the two.

"She's right," Beckett said with a nod. "And we'll help him with the vegetables and potatoes."

"Why don't I get to cook?" Eliza protested as her mother was starting to pick out potatoes in the produce.

"Do you want to?" Beckett asked. When the little girl nodded her head firmly she thought for a moment and said, "You can learn how to mash the potatoes once they're cooked okay?"

"Kay, thank you," Eliza said with a wide smile at her mother before they were continuing.

"Dessert Kate?" Martha said in amusement as they went last to the bakery section from the aisles.

"Yes," Beckett said simply before she waved at the woman behind the counter who she knew from past visits.

"Hello Ms. Beckett," the worker said with a smile. "We have the dessert all ready for you; let me grab it."

"Thank you," Beckett said before she waited. When the container of Eton Mess was brought out she took it and nodded as the woman told her it needed to be refrigerated. She repeated her thanks and then turned to the girls, smiling at them as they were watching her closely. "You'll see after dinner," she promised.

"Is that it?" Julia asked.

"Yes, let's go home," Beckett replied before she let Julia push the cart over to the registers to pay for their food.

* * *

"Macca, Rita!" Castle said to the two dogs as they were growling. He snapped his finger and then pointed over to the family room, watching them to make sure they went. With them taken care of he then turned his attention to who was walking up to him and said, "Meredith," wincing inwardly as his tone was a little grimmer than he'd wanted to make it. But he couldn't help it as he wasn't exactly happy realizing his ex-wife was there. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you of course," the woman said breezily as she passed by Castle. "And your home since I'm no longer going to be a single woman."

"I'd heard from Alexis you were getting married next month," he began slowly. "But what does that have to do with me?" When he didn't get an answer, Castle watched her looking around and said, "If you came for that then you-"

"You've changed the house," Meredith interrupted before he could continue. When she'd last been in the place everything had been white or off white and she was slightly discomforted seeing the walls in a very pale blue that she noticed went all the way down to the kitchen.

"Well… I was alone when I first bought the house," Castle said though he didn't want to think about the previous interior designer of the beach house. "But really this isn't the best time, I'm a little nervous about tomorrow-"

"Oh I know, Alexis told me about the game you have," Meredith replied. "I'll be there to watch of course; I never knew you wanted to play polo."

"Yes," Castle said simply, trying not to groan at the thought of her still being around the next day. He then recalled that his wife and their daughters would be back so he said, "Listen I hate to-" he started to say as he stepped up to her to lead her out of the house if he needed to. He was just about to grab her arm when she stopped him by placing her hand on his chest. "What are you doing?" he asked, slightly angrily as he batted it away.

"You've been married to Beckett for a while, haven't you?" Meredith asked.

"Yes, is that why you're here?" Castle asked, recalling something he and his daughter had talked about concerning the woman in front of him. "To check her out?"

"No, that's the last th… no," Meredith began to say. "How long has it been, four, five years?"

"Five and we're going on to six," Castle said firmly. "Why?"

"You must be tired-" Meredith began.

"And that's why you're here," Castle said, shaking his head. "I can't believe you, I'm a very happily married man and I will never entertain the thought of cheating on Kate, especially with you."

"You forgot what we had?" Meredith asked, some anger in her tone.

"I'd like to," Castle said. "Especially what we did after we divorced, that is not my proudest moment."

"Look, Ricky, I-" Meredith started to say.

Before she could continue the sound of the door in the foyer that led the garage opening reached them and they watched the dogs leaving the family room they'd been near when someone ran inside.

"Daddy!" Eliza cried, grabbing onto his hand before he picked her up. "I got a splinter but Mommy-" she began before she realized her father was standing in front of someone. She gasped and then buried her face against his, not wanting to say anything else with a stranger there.

"Daddy?" Julia asked, reaching them and seeing the woman herself. She pressed against his side, feeling comforted by the way he wrapped his arm around her.

"Rick?" a voice said behind them before anyone else could say anything.

"Beckett," Meredith said, smiling at her.

"Meredith," Beckett replied when she saw that the figure was Alexis' mother and not just her imagination. She noticed then that the woman was standing too close to her husband and was able to guess why she had suddenly shown up after ten years since they'd last seen her.

Before Meredith could say anything, she watched as Castle and Beckett spoke in another language together before her ex-husband was squeezing Beckett's hand tightly. "I was just stopping by to see Ricky; I'll be at the game. See you tomorrow at that game," she called as she went around the family and left them.

"Was that 'lexis' mom?" Julia asked as soon as they heard the door next to the gate in the front slamming shut.

"That was," Castle breathed out heavily. "If you're wondering why she came here… I don't know, a last goodbye before she gets married I guess."

When her husband looked at her pointedly Beckett realized immediately what he meant by that and seeing the anger in his eyes she also knew already how he'd reacted to it. She opened her mouth to speak when their youngest then began to as they stood together.

"Why is she going to the game?" Eliza asked.

"I have no clue and we don't need to worry about it," Castle said. "I thought you were going to the market? And another question, my mother?"

"First the things are in the car," Beckett replied. "We can get them now. And your mother met up with the Windmans at the market; apparently they were getting supplies so they just took her with them."

Castle nodded and said to the girls, "Can you wait for us here?"

When they nodded Beckett pulled Castle by his arm and they went into the garage before she said, " _She solicited you_?"

" _She tried to but didn't have the chance to outright ask_ ," Castle replied. He then became thoughtful and said, " _I didn't give her the chance. But you realize love I wasn't going to say yes to her. I would have kicked her out of the house before it got to that_."

Beckett wanted to remind him he had never resisted her before when she realized why he was doing so at that moment. " _Is it because we're married or_ …"

" _You're a better lover_ ," Castle finished for her, speaking firmly.

" _What happened to crazy people giving you amazing sex_?" Beckett pointed out.

Blanching at his own words being thrown at him Castle said, " _I was waiting for you still_."

" _So, you were trying to bait me_?" Beckett asked with a smirk.

" _Make you jealous_ ," Castle corrected. He sighed and said, " _That's probably why I was with her then though it was starting to become an issue_." When he saw his wife looking at him with her eyebrow slightly raised he explained, " _Every time we were together she would stay just a little longer and drive the three of us crazy. And then she wanted to move back_ …"

" _I thought it was her career_ ," Beckett said as her mother in law had told her that.

" _That gave her the excuse_ ," Castle said. " _I think_ ," he then said as he looked at the doorway to the house. " _We should just put this out of our heads and just be civil enough to her so we're not outright rude; to get rid of her sooner_."

" _I almost thought you were going to invite her to stay_ ," Beckett confessed, stopping him before he could continue.

Castle shook his head vehemently before he said, " _I already knew the girls were not going to be comfortable with her here. The dogs let me know actually, they growled at her when she was walking up to the house. And when_ Julia _came to me she was holding onto me tight. She knew_."

" _I'm not surprised_ ," Beckett said with a nod. " _You're right though, just be polite enough until she's gone. You don't think she'd come back do you_?"

" _No_ ," Castle said. " _If she's here also to see the two of us together then she won't try to come back_."

" _Don't ask me to make out with you in front of her_ ," Beckett said. "Wait," she said in English as he was walking over to the door. When he turned to her questioningly she kissed him gently on the lips before he deepened it and she followed him willingly.

"I should have gone with you," Castle said once they parted.

"We can't spend every second together," Beckett replied with a smile as they walked into the house. "And we missed you too," she told him, still smiling.

Castle smiled back at her before they went to the kitchen and he was able to spot the girls first, glancing at his wife.

"Look Mommy, these are for you," Julia said as she and her sister were holding the hydrangea blooms in her arms. "Daddy cut them for you."

"Thank you," Beckett said to her husband with a smile.

"I was going to put them in a vase," Castle said. When she kissed his cheek he then said, "Can you two get one?"

"We'll take care of it Daddy!" Eliza cried.

Laughing softly Julia followed her sister over to where the vases were and she grabbed one before climbing up on the stool she pushed to the sink to get some water in it. "Give me the flowers Lizzy," she then said. Once she had all of them she put them into the vase and held it tightly before stepping down onto the floor.

"I can hold them," Eliza said, holding her arms out to her sister.

"You're gonna drop it," Julia protested.

"No, I won't," Eliza said, frowning.

"Girls," Beckett said as she'd been listening to them. "Why don't you put your hand on the front of it Eliza? Just in case it might fall."

"Okay," Julia said though she wasn't sure if that would work. She waited for her sister to put her hand on the vase before they walked together to the table. Once they were there she half expected Eliza to say she should help putting the vase on it but she was able to set it in the middle without any problems. She then smiled and said, "They're so pretty."

"I hope they last for a while," Castle said from the kitchen where he and Beckett had been taking everything out of the bags. "Come on Julia we're going to start cooking now."

"Now? But isn't it early?" the girl said in surprise.

"We need to start everything," Beckett said. "Especially the roast."

"That takes the longest," Castle said before he then began to prepare it.

"What are you gonna do?" Eliza asked her mother.

"Peel the potatoes," Beckett said easily. She smiled as the girls opened their mouths at the same time and she quickly said, "You're a little too small for this Eliza."

"Does that mean I can do it?" Julia said, trying not to sound too excited as her sister pouted.

"You can try," Beckett replied with a smile. "I'll teach you." With that she went over to the drawer where their cooking utensils were and she took two peelers out. She handed Julia one of the potatoes she'd gotten at the market and then showed her how to hold the vegetable and use the peeler. "Go slowly because this is your first time," she said firmly as she handed both to the girl. "And watch your fingers."

"I will," Julia promised before she tried to slide the peeler down on the potato's skin.

"A little harder," Castle said as he watched her.

"He's right, you need to get the peel off," Beckett told her. She watched Julia do that and smiled when she managed to get through to the white. "Good job, keep going," she told her when her oldest looked up at her.

Julia carefully peeled the rest of the potato until she was finished and after handing it to her mother she asked, "Can I do another?"

"Sure," Beckett replied, watching her begin. She knew Julia was aware of how to do so safely so she then began to peel a potato herself and with her oldest's help they got through them all.

"The roast is cooking," Castle said as he closed the oven a bit later. "Are you starting the potatoes?"

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile as they were on the stove in a pot of water. "For now, what would you two like to do?"

"Can we work on art?" Eliza asked.

"What kind?" Castle asked.

"What about the beads?" Julia suggested. "Make some bracelets."

Hearing Eliza gasping eagerly Beckett smiled and then said, "We'll get your things."

"But wait," Julia said as she and her sister followed their mother up to the second floor. "What about me cooking?"

"You can help me cut up the veggies," Beckett told her.

"Really? With a grown up knife and everything?" Julia said eagerly.

"You should start learning," Beckett replied. "And I'll let your daddy do that because he's very good with a knife."

"What will you do while they do that?" Eliza asked as her mother was getting out their beads.

"Work with you sweetie," Beckett said with a smile. "Come on, let's go," she told them before they made their way downstairs.

"Ready?" Castle asked as he saw the three coming down.

"Are you gonna help us too Daddy?" Eliza asked.

"Not yet," Castle said. "I'm going to wash the vegetables for you before I help your sister with her knife skills."

"I don't have any," Julia protested.

"You will if you keep trying," Castle said with a smile at her.

"Sit with me Eliza," Beckett told her daughter. And while Castle was cleaning the vegetables at the sink she was helping the girls string their thread with the various beads they had. As she was doing that with the two she smiled at her daughters and she couldn't help remembering when she and Castle had been doing something similar back in the city and when Julia herself had been four years old.

* * *

 _Setting down the easel Castle said, "I hope you'll enjoy this."_

 _"What am I gonna do?" Julia asked, looking up at him._

 _"Paint, you've painted before," Castle told her. When he saw the confused expression on her face he told her, "Well you will now."_

 _Shaking her head Beckett said, "I haven't had time to help her get started on painting."_

 _"I will now," Julia said, before she smiled at her mother and Castle. She looked at the apron that her mother was holding up to her and asked, "What is it Mommy?"_

 _"It's for your shirt," Beckett said._

 _"Um, Beckett?" Castle asked her. "Sorry but I really think you should give her a shirt of yours; an old one."_

 _"Is that coming from experience?" Beckett asked in response, a smile on her face._

 _"Definitely," Castle said, nodding seriously. He watched her leave and said to the little girl, "How are you enjoying your September?"_

 _Julia shrugged before she then touched one of the clips on the top of the easel, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but didn't say anything until her mother came out from her room._

 _"Sweetie," Beckett said, looking at the two and knowing immediately what had happened between the two. "Did you tell Castle about what we did the other day?" She wasn't surprised when her daughter nodded but didn't say anything else and she told her, "About the zoo?"_

 _"We saw aminals," Julia replied shyly as her mother was helping her into her shirt. "Mommy it's too big."_

 _"It's supposed to be," Beckett told her. She rolled up the sleeves and said, "Now do you want to paint with your hands or a brush?"_

 _"My hands!" Julia exclaimed._

 _"You're sure she's never used an easel?" Castle asked his girlfriend as she was preparing the paints._

 _"No, apparently at the school they don't have them they just use tables," Beckett said. "Okay, what do you want to paint sweetie?"_

 _When Julia shrugged Castle said, "Can I make a suggestion?" As the little girl looked at him he smiled and said, "What about the animals you saw?" When she smiled widely he said, "That would be really nice." He watched her get some of the paint on her right hand and when she started to paint he smiled again, at Beckett as she glanced at him worriedly. Though the little girl was better with him there would still be moments when she was obviously awkward. He didn't mind as he had known already that it would take time for her to really be okay with him and was glad she had at least smiled at him, let alone taken his suggestion. He then recalled that he was supposed to be preparing dinner for them and he quickly shook himself before turning his attention to the kitchen._

 _Since Julia asked her to help Beckett was soon doing so, smearing the paint as her daughter directed her to do. She also kept an eye on her boyfriend at the same time, seeing him soon beginning to cut some carrots rapidly._

 _Hearing the sound Julia looked over at him with a gasp and said, "Are you cutting?"_

 _"I am," Castle said. When she started to hurry over to him he asked, "Did you want to see?" since her mother was quickly stopping her._

 _"Oh… please?" Julia asked her mother._

 _"Are you finished with your picture?" Beckett asked. When Julia nodded she said, "Then we should wash our hands first."_

 _"I'll leave one last carrot for you Julia," Castle assured her as he could see she was going to protest._

 _"Thank you!" the little girl said a bit shyly._

 _"You have to tell us about your picture when we're back outside sweetie," Beckett told her as she was getting the paint off Julia's hands in her bathroom._

 _"I will," the little girl promised. When they were finished and her mother was leading her out to the living room she got away from her and then rushed to the kitchen. "I'm here," she told Castle._

 _"Here," Beckett said, picking the little girl up and setting her on one of the chairs there._

 _Julia watched a little breathlessly as Castle chopped up the carrot rapidly and she was a little sad when he quickly finished after. But he then brought over a tomato and she watched him cut into that though it wasn't as fast as the carrot. "What do we have?"_

 _"Quesadillas," Castle replied. "Plus, rice and beans and then we'll have a salad."_

 _"Can I cut?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _"You're a little small right now," Beckett told her, not surprised Castle had looked to her to reply. "So, let's wait until you get a little taller to do that."_

 _"Kay," Julia said. When he put the tomatoes into the salad bowl she asked her mother, "Can we watch still?"_

 _"Of course," Beckett said, picking her up to set her on her lap. Together they watched as Castle was finishing their meal and when he was nearly there she had the little girl help her set the table. Once everything was ready they sat together and then began to eat before they began to talk._

 _"Sounds like you had a really good time," Castle commented after Julia had told him about the zoo._

 _"We did," Beckett replied. "I wish you could have joined us."_

 _"Me too," Castle said with a sigh. "Luckily I won't have too many more signings to do."_

 _"You should be happy the book is doing so well," Beckett pointed out._

 _"I know but there are only so many times I can sit and just sign before I get tired of it," Castle said. He then said, "You should join me."_

 _"And how would you justify that?" Beckett asked, glancing at her daughter and seeing she wasn't really paying attention to them._

 _"I'd think of something," Castle said simply._

 _Laughing slightly Beckett then said, "We probably shouldn't." She was a bit surprised when he looked disappointed and she then said, "But maybe we can go see you."_

 _"Thank you," Castle replied seriously before he looked with her at Julia. "Do you think she heard anything we just said?"_

 _"No," Beckett replied, laughing slightly. "Sweetie," she then said to get her daughter's attention. "Do you like dinner?"_

 _"Yeah, thank you," Julia said, directing that to Castle._

 _"You're very welcome," he said. "What can we do once we're done?" Castle then directed to his girlfriend._

 _"We'll let her decide," Beckett said, reaching over to Julia and wiping her mouth gently._

 _"Can we play?" Julia asked._

 _"Play what?" Beckett asked as she and Castle were getting up to begin clearing the table._

 _"Tea party," Julia said immediately with a smile._

 _"I think we can," Beckett replied, not surprised that her boyfriend was looking at her in surprise._

 _"I want to ask but I'm assuming you two will show me," Castle said._

 _"We will," Beckett said before she had Julia carry her plate to the sink. "Go get your set sweetie," she told her daughter._

 _"Kay," Julia said before she then went to her room. "I'm gonna get to play," she told Kauai in his tank before she went to get her toy set._

 _"Oh, she actually has a tea set," Castle said when Julia walked back out into the living room._

 _"You didn't think I would get her one?" Beckett asked with a smile._

 _"I didn't think about it," Castle said honestly._

 _"Can we play?" Julia asked, watching them talk._

 _"Yes," Beckett replied with a smile to the little girl who looked hesitant. She urged her to come to the coffee table where she helped her set up the plastic teapot and cups._

 _"Nothing to serve with the tea?" Castle asked when they had stopped, sitting with them._

 _"No," Beckett said, glancing at him. She smiled at Julia who was watching them and asked, "Is it ready sweetie?"_

 _"Yeah," Julia said, nodding her head. She then poured the 'tea' out of the teapot for all three of them. "Is it good?" she asked hopefully as she watched the two sipping at their cups._

 _"It is," Beckett assured her with a smile. "What about the cookies?"_

 _"I have cookies," Julia said after a look of realization appeared on her face. She pretended to put some things on a plate before she handed it to Castle._

 _"Thank you," he said with a smile before he pretended to take a bite of the imaginary cookie. "You did a good job baking them."_

 _Beckett smiled as Julia's cheeks were red and she watched her daughter pretending to drink out of her own cup before she squeezed her boyfriend's arm to thank him for going along with the game as well as he was._

* * *

"Thanks," Julia said to her mother when she took the plate she was carrying.

"I should be saying that," Beckett said with a smile. "Is the table cleared?" When her oldest nodded she said, "Go ahead and join your sister in the family room."

"Can we pick a game?" Eliza asked, standing next to the island with the dogs.

"You should, that way you won't lose the time before you go to bed," Castle advised them. When he and his wife were alone he said, "I'm going to have to tell Mother about Meredith."

"Well of course," Beckett replied easily. "How do you think she would react if she suddenly saw her at the game tomorrow?"

Castle paused in handing her a glass that he'd washed before he said, "That's true… but hopefully we can wait until the girls are in bed." He then said after becoming slightly thoughtful, "Did you notice they're not really bothered by her?"

"She's not here anymore," Beckett replied, drying a fork he'd handed her. "As far as they're concerned she was only here for a second."

"I'm just glad you didn't get home a minute earlier," Castle commented. "I wouldn't want them to see her trying to… ask."

"I know," Beckett said as he looked at her slightly worriedly. "Done?" she asked when he took over drying the last thing he'd washed.

"Yeah, we better go," Castle said.

Beckett smiled but didn't say anything while she let him take her hand before they went over to the family room. When they stepped inside she stopped as her husband did when Julia ended up scattering half of the cards of the UNO deck when she tried to shuffle.

"Sorry! Sorry I was trying to do what you did Daddy," Julia said when she immediately after spotted her parents. She then quickly began to pick them up, smiling at her little sister when she helped her.

Castle was going to say something before he felt his phone shaking in his pocket and he hurried to take it out. "It's Alexis; she's ready to talk now."

"I thought we were gonna talk to her tomorrow?" Julia asked as Eliza gasped happily.

"Looks like she has the chance now," Beckett said before she looked at her watch. "It's kind of late."

"Maybe they didn't go out," Castle said slowly. When Beckett shook her head, he sighed and got the TV ready before his daughter was appearing on the screen. "Hey kiddo," he said. "How are you?"

"Good, what about you guys?" Alexis said, waving to them all.

"We're good; did you have a nice Saturday?" Julia asked first.

"I did," Alexis replied. "Can you see behind me at all?"

"Are you at White Mount?" Beckett asked, something about the background clicking in her mind.

"It is, we decided to just come out here," Alexis replied. "And I just got upstairs from talking with Brennan and Clara."

"You're staying until Monday?" Castle said. When his daughter nodded he smiled and said, "So you've been having a good time there?"

"Yeah, we got here at about… eleven in the morning and we've been going around on the horses before winter hits," Alexis said.

"How're the horses?" Julia asked quickly.

With a smile Alexis glanced at her stepmother and then said, "They're good, they had a foal yesterday and we went to see it, he's adorable."

"What breed?" Beckett said.

"Lipizzaner," Alexis replied. "But besides that, we've just been relaxing. Now what about you guys?"

As the girls began to talk about their day Castle became concerned that the two would talk about Alexis' mother being there but when Julia spoke about how they were about to play UNO he glanced at his wife. "I've just been hanging around outside the house," he said quickly as he realized his daughter was looking at him.

"Relaxing before the game?" Alexis asked.

"Essentially," Castle replied.

"Okay, then I guess I should let you go so you can get to your game," Alexis told them with a smile.

"Are you gonna go to sleep?" Eliza asked.

"Probably, I'm tired from this week at school," Alexis answered. "Goodnight Jules, Lizzy. I love you both."

"Night 'lexis, love you!" Eliza said first, waving her hand.

"I love you too 'lexis, see you tomorrow?" Julia asked.

"We'll see, I would like to hear how Dad's game goes," Alexis replied.

"Just let us know," Castle told his daughter. "And by the way we love you."

"Love you Dad, Kate," Alexis said with a smile. "Night."

When the TV was turned off Castle wasn't surprised when his phone shook and he showed his wife the message before she was speaking.

"Why don't we have some popcorn with our game?" Beckett said to their daughters.

"Can we?" Julia asked hopefully.

"Come and help me," Beckett said before she stood up from the couch. "We'll get it Rick."

"Okay," Castle said, watching them go. Once the three were gone he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Alexis' number.

"Dad, Mom called me and-" the young woman began to say.

"We saw her," Castle said simply.

"We? Did the girls?" Alexis asked.

"They did but only briefly," Castle said before he then related what had happened earlier that afternoon, leaving out her mother trying to entice him to sleep with her one last time.

"You don't have to hide that Dad," Alexis said ruefully. "Mom told me she was going to see you and when I asked her why she was vague… I put two and two together."

"If only you weren't so good in math," Castle said weakly.

"Please don't tell me-" Alexis began.

"No," Castle interrupted her, wondering if she realized she was talking about her own mother. "I was trying to get her out but Kate and the girls came home before I could remove her from the house. But," he said before sighing heavily. "She's going to the game."

"After that I'm sure she's bound to leave," Alexis tried to say reassuringly. "She'll see you're happy with Kate; just score a goal."

"Extra incentive I guess," Castle replied. "I'm sure tomorrow we'll say goodbye to her and she'll head back to Italy."

"Oh no," Alexis said suddenly.

"She's calling you?" Castle guessed.

With a sigh Alexis said, "She is, I'll talk to you tomorrow Dad."

"Take care kiddo," Castle said before they hung up. He then turned his attention to Beckett who was coming into the room with the girls and he said, "Are we ready now?"

"Yeah," the girls said together excitedly before they sat down at the coffee table again.

As they played the first game once Castle had dealt the cards Julia and Eliza listened to their parents talking in Irish, not understanding but not caring as they both knew they probably had something to talk about.

" _She called her just as we finished our conversation_ ," Castle said after telling his wife what he'd talked about with his daughter.

" _I wonder how that will go_ ," Beckett mused slightly absently. She then looked up at him and said, " _I hope she doesn't bother her_."

" _I hope too_ ," Castle said with a nod. "Uno," he called to the girls, setting down his second to last card.

"Don't put a color he has," Julia said with a laugh.

"Or the number," Beckett reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Eliza said, putting down a wild card.

"Really? You don't have any blues or sixes?" Castle asked, pretending he was going to look at her cards.

"No Daddy," Eliza giggled.

"What color do you want?" Beckett asked to get them back to the game.

"Red," Eliza said after looking at her cards.

Julia set down a card before she watched her mother put down another red and smiled when Castle pretended to grumble as he picked up another card from the deck. She looked at her little sister before they laughed together and then focused on their cards as they were continuing again. When their mother won she said with a smile, "Good thing you didn't have any reds."

"Yeah," Eliza said with a nod. "Can we play again?"

"Why don't we get you upstairs so you can take bath?" Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the little girl shook her head no and she said, "I know but you need to."

Eliza looked at her father but he was shaking his head and she sighed before saying, "Do I hafta go to bed after?"  
"You do," Beckett told her. "But you got to do a lot today." She wasn't surprised when Eliza mumbled under her breath a little before she picked her up and set her on her hip. She went upstairs, looking behind her to see if Castle was following and saw he was with their oldest.

"I'm not taking a bath either?" Julia asked when they were at the top of the stairs.

"You're taking a shower," Beckett said. She then looked at Eliza and said, "Your daddy will help you okay?"

"Kay," the little girl replied with a smile before she was handed over to her father.

When they were at Julia's room Beckett watched her husband taking Eliza down the hall and she turned her attention to her oldest as she closed the door behind her.

"How come you're gonna wait?" Julia asked.

"I just want to," Beckett replied as she did that occasionally. "Go ahead and take your shower, you don't need to wash your hair."

Nodding Julia then went into the bathroom and she was able to take it very quickly since she didn't have to wash her hair. When she was dressed again she brushed her teeth; knowing her mother would make sure she did that; and then stepped out, startled to find that her mother's head was starting to fall forward as if she was dozing. "Mommy?" she asked, shaking her.

Her head shooting up Beckett realized what had happened and she said, "How long did you take?"

"I don't think for too long," Julia said. "Maybe you shouldn't have gone for a run in the morning," she told her in slight concern as she was sitting up.

"I know," Beckett said as she'd gone longer that morning though she'd already been tired from what she and Castle had done the night before. She looked at Julia and said, "I guess I needed a nap earlier."

"Are you still tired?" Julia asked.

"I'm fine, did you finish?" Beckett asked her.

"Just my hair," Julia said.

"Get your brush and I'll brush it for you," Beckett replied. She then went over to the door to open it and sat back on the bed before her oldest joined her. She began to comb out the brown hair before she said, "Are you excited for the game?"

"Yeah, I wish Daddy could be too," Julia told her.

"He is still but he just wants to do good during the game," Beckett explained. "Take this back sweetie."

"Hey," Castle said as he appeared in the room.

"Is she asleep?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"She is," Castle replied. "You wore her out at the playground."

"Julia," Beckett called then to her daughter. "Come on we need to get your sister tucked in."

"She fell asleep?" Julia asked, unable to hear her parents.

"She did, come on," Beckett told her before they walked out and down the hall to Eliza's room. She saw her husband was right and Rita was next to the sleeping little girl. "Did you say goodnight to her?" she asked her husband softly.

Castle nodded and watched as Julia hurried to the edge of the bed petting Rita first; since she was next to the side of the bed; and whispering that she loved her sister. "I'm taking her to her room," he then said to his wife.

With a nod Beckett went straight to the bed and leaned down, pressing her lips to Eliza's forehead whispering, "I love you sweetie." She then covered the two and scratched at Rita's ears before she left and closed the light behind her, heading for her oldest's room.


	5. Love Only You (Part 2)

"I want to write in my diary," Julia said as her mother stepped inside.

"Go ahead," Beckett said with a slight laugh.

"Thanks," Julia said before she almost hopped over to her desk. She sat down and got her diary out before she got some ink in her pen and she began to write.

 _November 9th, 2019  
Today was really weird but I'll try to write about what happened. In the day, I went with my mom, sister and gram too to the playground. We had so much fun with our lunch and playing but I felt bad for my dad. He stayed home 'cause he's been nervous for his game and my mom wanted to let him be alone a little bit. We went to the market and after when we came home…_

Julia hesitated there and thought about how she could write that before she then put her pen down on the next line of the page.

 _There was a lady here and she was Alexis' mother and she was… standing too close to my dad. But good thing my mom came in and then the lady was leaving. I want to ask my parents why she came 'cause I don't think she came to see my dad really fast. But I bet they won't tell me._

She let out a sigh and then turned to look at her parents, seeing that they were looking at each other and talking quietly. Julia could just barely hear that they were speaking in Irish and she couldn't help smiling before she turned back to her diary to write again.

 _But besides that, it was a great day, I'm really excited to see my dad's game. I'm hoping he wins and scores at least one goal for him and Mommy!_

"Okay, I'm done," Julia said as she closed her diary and then put it away. "What can I do now?"

"I think you have enough time to read," Beckett told her.

"Do I have to?" Julia asked.

"You're going through the book a little slow sweetie," Beckett said though she could understand why she was doing that with the sixth Harry Potter book.

"You want to force her to read them love?" Castle asked her.

"Then what would you like to do sweetie?" Beckett said to their daughter.

"Could we play Go Fish?" Julia asked.

"Sure," Beckett said with a smile. She and Castle waited for her to get a deck of cards before they were beginning the game, playing on the bed for a while until they finished the first game.

"Where's Gram?" Julia asked then as her father; who'd won the game; was shuffling the deck again.

"She'll likely be late," Beckett said.

"Really late, she might be playing herself," Castle said. When the two looked at him he said, "I mean cards; she's probably playing poker."

"Will you see her?" Julia asked.

"Probably not until tomorrow," Beckett said as Castle nodded next to her.

"Oh," Julia said. She sighed and then told them, "I just want her to go with us to the game tomorrow."

When the girl didn't continue Castle said with a smile, "To give me some support?" When she nodded he said, "Thanks but I'll have a lot with you three there."

Julia nodded again and said, "Do we have time for a story?"

"Not really," Beckett told her as they were looking at their hands. "I think we'll just barely have enough time for this game."

"I wouldn't make a face," Castle said. "You never know how long this game might go." He looked at his wife and then said, "Don't give me a look; it could go for a while."

Laughing softly as Beckett rolled her eyes Julia then asked, "Do you have any fives Daddy?"

After they'd finished the game Beckett let Castle put away the cards as she helped their daughter get her legs under the covers after saying goodnight to Macca. "Get some sleep, we'll probably be out all day," she said.

"I know, I will," Julia said with a yawn. "Like you did."

"That was a cat nap," Beckett replied as she smiled at her. "Say goodnight to her Rick."

"Right," Castle said, going to her. "I love you Julia and thank you for the support you gave me today."

"You're welcome," Julia replied with a smile. "And I love you too Daddy, night." After she shared a kiss with him she then looked at her mother and embraced her tightly saying, "Don't run tomorrow."

"I wasn't going to don't worry," Beckett replied. "I love you sweetie, sweet dreams."

"You too Mommy, I love you," Julia said with a smile. She shared a kiss with her before she laid down and watched her mother covering her. Watching her parents leave she smiled slightly and when they were gone she sighed, turning over onto her side and closing her eyes and trying to focus on the next day.

* * *

Sipping at the last of their tea Beckett was about to mention to her husband that they should go to bed when she heard the door opening. "I think that's your mother," she said to her him.

"You might be right, I'll follow you," Castle said as he was taking their mugs to rinse out.

Though she wanted to ask him if he was trying to delay telling his mother about who they'd seen that day Beckett left to go down the hallway. "Hello Martha," she said to her mother in law. "How was it?"

"Very nice, they were very autumn themed," Castle's mother replied. "Did I miss the girls going to bed?"

"It's after nine Mother, you did," Castle told her as he joined them. "But they're hoping to see you tomorrow."

"They will," Martha replied. She then looked between her son and daughter in law before she said, "Well?"

"You didn't think she'd be able to tell?" Beckett said simply to her husband as he looked startled.

Though he wanted to comment on that Castle then said, "We should go into the family room. You want coffee or anything?"

"I'm fine Richard," Martha said before she followed them.

"So earlier while you guys were at the park," Castle began once they were all sitting down. "Meredith came to the house."

Martha opened her mouth before closing it and then said, "She was here?"

"She was," Castle said slowly.

"I can imagine what she wanted since we were gone," Martha said. She then quickly held up her hand to stop him from speaking and then said, "I know already. But obviously you sent her away."

"She went away," Beckett said. When her mother in law looked to her she said, "When we got home."

"Ah, I see," Martha replied. "Well at least she's gone and we won't see her again." She was going to continue when she noticed the look on her son's face and sighed saying, "Did you invite her to dinner or something?"

"She's going to be at the game," Beckett said.

"Of course," Martha said with a frown. "I really hope she'll leave you be. Especially if you score any goals."

"She's going to be married next month," Beckett told them. "Do you really think she's serious about…"

"About one last fling?" Martha asked as her daughter in law had trailed off and then looked at her son with a slightly stricken look. "I can figure things out. Have you told Alexis?"

"She called us, I'm guessing she called you," Castle said.

"I think first," Martha replied. "Because she would have mentioned her mother to me."

"I talked to her on my own afterwards," Castle continued. "And told her and Meredith called her while we were talking."

"Hmm, maybe it's about more," Martha said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Beckett said at the expression on her mother in law's face.

"Well it's just that if she couldn't really get close to you again Richard she'll go about things a different way," Martha said.

"And you think she's here to what, sabotage our relationship or something?" Castle said.

"No, no," Martha said. "She wants to be better than you Kate."

"Then shouldn't she have come to me and talked to me?" Beckett asked.

"Her mind is twisted a bit concerning you I'm sure," Martha said. "So, I couldn't explain what she's trying to do. But if I were you I would do my best to give her a very wide berth."

"We plan to," Castle said firmly.

"Alright, I'm going to bed to prepare for the game," Martha said as she stood.

"Are you going to talk to her if you see her?" Castle then asked.

"I may, I may not," Martha said after she thought for a moment. She smiled and then said, "Don't worry about it at all. Goodnight darlings."

"She worries me with that tone," Castle commented after they'd said goodnight to her together.

"I'm sure she won't do anything outright; you mentioned she wouldn't," Beckett said, squeezing his arm in reassurance.

"True, she wanted there to be some civility; for Alexis' sake," Castle told her. "But you realize Alexis is not going to be there tomorrow."

"Let's not worry," Beckett told him before pulling on his arm.

Groaning Castle said, "Why did I marry her?"

"You didn't know Rick and you were going to have a child with her eventually; it was the right thing to do," Beckett said. "Sort of," she added when he looked at her. "But for Alexis it…"

"Yeah, it probably would have been better if I hadn't divorced her right away," Castle sighed. "If only I'd known what I do now…" They were inside their room and he closed and locked the door before they got ready for bed as he wasn't surprised she didn't have much to say to his comment.

"Rick?" Beckett asked when she'd come out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth. "You okay?" she continued when he looked at her, asking that as he was sitting on the end of the bed with his face in his hands.

"Just thinking," Castle said as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to her stomach. "Remember when Eliza was a baby?"

"I do," Beckett told him gently as she was running her fingers through his hair in the same manner. There was no surprise from her he was recalling that as she knew their raising their daughters held a lot more happy memories than him trying to keep his marriage together with Meredith and raising Alexis the best he could.

"And remember that time when she was about a month old and there was that storm during the weekend?" Castle asked.

"We spent the day together," Beckett said. She frowned slightly as she heard water pelting the windows and then looked back to see it was raining.

"I'm a… I can mentally control the weather," Castle said when she turned back to him.

"You don't know the word for that do you?" Beckett asked as she sat next to him since he'd let her go.

"No clue," Castle replied. "But that was a nice Saturday," he said slowly.

"But Alexis-" Beckett started to say.

"I know she was in the city but she was having a good time with friends which I was happy about," Castle said, smiling slightly at her. He then sighed and said, "I think I'm feeling nostalgic."

"Don't," Beckett said, taking his hand off her abdomen.

"Sorry," Castle said, knowing that was a touchy subject for her. It had been a little over three months since they'd begun attempting to conceive a child and he knew she was beginning to have some unease. He knew they still had a chance to have another baby but he could sympathize with her concern as she wasn't pregnant yet. To change the subject he then said, "And remember the thunder? The girls were fine with it."

"I do," Beckett said, smiling as his insistence about remembering that Saturday in the first of May was affecting her too. They sat there; holding hands as she'd reached for his; recalling that day they'd spent with their daughters at home.

* * *

 _"So, what do we do now?" Julia asked, looking outside with her father._

 _"I think we should spend the morning with Eliza until she goes to sleep," Castle replied. "And then play when she's taking a nap."_

 _"Guys?" Beckett asked, coming over to them. "You're just going to watch the rain?"_

 _"No, Daddy said we should play with Lizzy," Julia told her._

 _"Okay," Beckett said, handing the baby to Castle._

 _"It won't really be playing," he was quick to say as his wife was giving him a look. "But we can see if we can make her smile," Castle added._

 _"Mommy will," Julia said as the baby would do so more at her._

 _"It doesn't matter who can make her smile more," Beckett told them. "Let's just make sure we keep her busy in case of the-" she began before there was the clap of thunder. "Before that," she said as she checked on Eliza._

 _"She's fine," Castle assured her as he'd been watching the baby._

 _"Me too," Julia said. "I'm not scared." She watched as her father then laid Eliza down on the blanket that was on the floor. She quickly got on her stomach next to her sister and smiled at her saying, "We have to stay inside today. Mommy and Daddy say you can't go out in the rain."_

 _Beckett watched in amusement as Julia proceeded to share a conversation with the baby though it was obviously one sided. She wasn't surprised when the little girl jumped slightly at another clap of thunder and she asked her husband, "Should we get anything in case the lights go out?"_

 _"We're fine," Castle said. "Remember there's a lantern and flashlight here; if the lights go off I'll be able to go grab more."_

 _With a nod Beckett looked back to the girls, watching as Julia was kissing the side of the baby's head. "I guess we're just letting them play."_

 _"Better for them to start being friends too at some point," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when his wife shook her head and he leaned over to kiss her gently before straightening up to turn his attention back to the girls._

 _Watching the two as Julia attempted to play with Eliza, Castle and Beckett weren't surprised when their oldest seemed to grow bored._

 _"Why don't you paint something sweetie?" Beckett suggested._

 _"Could I?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"Let's get everything set up," Beckett told her._

 _"I'll watch her," Castle said as he got up. He then moved to lie down next to the baby and kissed her cheek before helping her onto her back. He watched Eliza kicking her legs and moving her arms around until they were rejoined by Beckett and Julia, the former holding their oldest's easel._

 _"What do you feel like painting today?" Beckett asked Julia after the little girl was ready._

 _"Can I paint something for Lizzy?" Julia said in response._

 _"I think so," Castle said before his wife could answer. When Beckett looked at him he said, "Why not? But Julia she may not be able to see it exactly. Her eyes are still developing."_

 _"I still want to paint for her," the little girl said quickly, nodding her head. When her mother indicated she could start she then said, "Lizzy I'm gonna paint a pretty day 'cause it's raining now. And I'll put the water and trees and everything."_

 _Beckett smiled in amusement and watched Julia beginning to run some blue along the bottom of the paper before she looked over at Eliza. The baby was looking around and she reached out to her, taking her again from Castle. Kissing her temple, she said to her husband, "How's Alexis?"_

 _"She's fine… how did you know she texted me?" Castle asked in surprise._

 _"I guessed," Beckett replied with a smile. "Is she doing anything today or just getting prepared for finals?"_

 _"No, she went out because she knows she's going to have to start studying soon," Castle said._

 _"Did she go to play games?" Julia asked as she'd been listening to them from the easel._

 _"She said she and her friends went bowling," Castle told her._

 _"Oooh, that's fun," Julia said, talking to her little sister though the baby wasn't looking at her._

 _"I'm sure it will be," Castle said slightly laughingly. "She asked how we were and I made her promise to call tonight."_

 _"You made her promise?" Beckett said slowly, looking at her husband._

 _"I did," Castle replied before he smiled at her. "No, she said that she was going to."_

 _"We can talk to her right?" Julia asked._

 _"She'll see Eliza," Beckett answered. "And we'll make sure she waves to her but I don't think she can talk yet." She smiled when Eliza began to coo and she looked down at the baby, moving her to hold her against her shoulder. Kissing her temple, she said to her husband, "My dad e-mailed me while we were upstairs."_

 _"I thought you'd taken longer than usual," Castle said. "Looks like today's the day the family keeps in touch with us from the city. Does he want to come out here?" he asked her._

 _"Next weekend," Beckett replied._

 _"Okay, you'll have to think of something to do with him Julia," Castle said to the little girl._

 _"I will," she replied. She then thought of something and said, "Can we go swimming?"_

 _"I think so," Beckett said as she knew that was directed to her. She was going to speak again when she noticed that Julia was stopping and she asked, "All done?"_

 _"Yeah," Julia said before she watched Castle turn the easel for her mother to see._

 _"Very nice," Beckett said with a smile. "Is that you and your sisters?"_

 _"Yeah, we can swim here," Julia replied with a smile. "Lizzy can too."_

 _"Good," Beckett said. "When it dries you can put it on the refrigerator. Careful," she had to add when Julia was starting to run to her._

 _"Thank you, Mommy," the little girl said with a smile when she'd pulled away after hugging her mother._

 _"You're welcome, your picture is too nice to hide it," Beckett replied, kissing her on the forehead. She then watched as Castle took their oldest to wash her hands and got up to head to the kitchen to start on lunch before they came back._

* * *

"Do you miss those days?" Castle asked his wife as he handed her the glass of water he'd gone to get.

With a smile Beckett said, "In some ways yes but you're going to ask if I want to go back?" She paused there and took a sip before she told him, "No, I have my memories of course."

"Of course," Castle echoed. "But you can't help feel some nostalgia."

Beckett frowned slightly and then got up to set the glass on her nightstand before she said, "I don't think you can. It's bothering you; that Meredith showed up."

"It is," Castle said. "And I know she's getting married in about a month but still…"

"Is she working on anything?" Beckett asked him.

"No," Castle replied after thinking for a moment. "She tells Alexis," he then explained to his wife.

"I know," Beckett said. "And if she's in between projects then that's why. She has the chance."

"But for what? And is she stalking us?" Castle said, saying the last question as he had realized something. "We're rarely apart for very long, how did she know she'd have the chance?"

Beckett wanted to tell him he was being paranoid but he was right about them not being apart. Though thinking of that something came to her and she said, "She wasn't stalking us."

"How do you know?" Castle asked.

"Because she came here fully expecting me to be here," Beckett said. "I get the feeling she was just going to say hello to you because I was going to be here. But since I wasn't and she had the opportunity…"

"She read the article," Castle said in the silence of the room as he got up to turn on the fire.

"Ours?" Beckett asked, how they referred to the _Cosmo_ one they'd done together.

"Ours," Castle said. "Alexis told me."

"But that was a while ago," Beckett told him as she stood at the end of the bed. "I think your mother's comments are affecting you," she said as he had her sit back down once he'd reached her.

"Mother can be very intuitive," Castle said as he sat at her feet. "Granted it's infrequent but this is one of those times."

"Then promise me something," Beckett said, taking his hand that was on her leg and entwining their fingers tightly. When he nodded she told him, "Promise me you'll try not to be alone with her… at least not with me nearby."

" _You didn't want to say that last bit, did you_?" Castle asked, slipping into Irish.

Sighing, though she'd wanted to protest, Beckett said, "I'll admit her showing up shortly before her wedding is… weird. But there's a part of me that's thinking she's basically here to say goodbye to you."

Shaking his head Castle said, "We'd still see one another, for Alexis."

"True," Beckett said.

"Oh, that part," Castle said as he then realized what she was talking about exactly. "I did that a while back."

"Does she know? Because she was trying for one last… fling with you; a married man," Beckett said, unable to help her anger from seeing the woman in their home earlier.

"She will now," Castle said quickly and reassuringly. "Believe me Kate I won't talk to her alone and if it comes up again I would never entertain the thought. I told you I was finished with her, the only thing we will share is Alexis." When she sighed and nodded he then told her, "Though not really."

Looking at him in slight confusion Beckett realized what he was talking about and she then said, "I don't-"

"Ask Alexis if you don't believe me," Castle cut in. "During the summer she was already asking me to tell you repeatedly to make sure you're there for her graduation. She stopped when you told her outright you would. She does love you."

"And I love her," Beckett said slowly. When he glanced up at her questioningly she shrugged and then said, "I'm just thinking about something else. So we're set?"

"About my ex? I think so," Castle said. "Actually," he began as she pulled him up onto the bed. "I want to be, I think we wasted enough time on the subject."

"And your knee?" Beckett asked him.

"I put on the brace," Castle said. "Enough of that too."

Before she could say anything Beckett suddenly found herself in her husband's arms as he crushed his lips down to hers. She was doing her best to respond to him before she parted her lips to allow his tongue to brush against her own. She was slightly startled at the way he was moving against her, very carefully, until they were parting slowly. "What is it you want?" she asked him, studying him closely.

"Come here," Castle replied, pulling her over to the bed. He had her get on top of it first and when she was sitting there he was next to her soon after saying, "Can we?"

Trying not to smile Beckett said, "I say that's more your decision. I'm not the one playing tomorrow."

Castle thought about that for a moment before he reminded her, "You promised."

"I knew you were going to throw that back to me," Beckett said.

"I'm reminding you," Castle told her quickly. When she leaned over and kissed him he said, "I'm just wondering."

"About?" Beckett asked when he didn't continue.

"How much we can do," Castle said. When she opened her mouth to reply he then quickly said, "Before."

"Why don't we let things go where they will?" Beckett said. When he hesitated she said, "I can control things if you want me to do that."

"I would feel better," Castle said honestly. "It's…" he started to say, knowing that she was going to question if the reason was the fact his ex had shown up. "Partially. The other part is I really did miss you."

"Then why don't you lie down?" Beckett said, getting an idea hearing that.

"Lay… okay," Castle said quickly before he did so on his back. When she began to make him turn over he did so and said, "You don't need to."

"And I'm aware of that," Beckett replied. She studied him and said, "It's a little harder to do this with your shirt in the way."

"You'll have to make do," Castle told her. He wasn't surprised at the way she gave him a look and he waited, wondering what she would do next. When he felt her hands on his back, through his shirt, he hissed slightly but then recovered quickly as he felt her beginning to search out any points of tension. At first, he was a bit rigid before he began to slowly relax into her touch. "I'm not exactly nervous," he said, pressing his cheek to his pillow.

"I realize," Beckett replied. "But you'll do well, you always do."

"Because I love it?" Castle asked when she stopped there.

"Because you love it," Beckett answered with a nod. "You'll be careful?"

"Like I always am," Castle said, wondering what it was about him playing on the men's team that made her so concerned; guessing it was because she wasn't with him just in case. He felt she'd finished then and he turned over onto his back telling her, "I know you and the girls are there." When she nodded he reached for her and pulled her down to him. He could feel her hair falling then to almost surround their heads and they were involved together for some time in their kiss before he slowly pulled away.

With a slight cry of surprise Beckett felt herself on her back, thinking her husband was going to do something else. But when he forced her around onto her stomach she smiled and said, "You can leave my shirt on."

Castle pretended to grumble but he got to work, proceeding to massage her back as much as he possibly could through her shirt. He felt a few knots and said, "Something we need to talk about?"

"No, likely just stress about the book," Beckett played off the best she could. She felt him continuing to massage her until he let her go and she turned over as he'd done. " _I mian leat a dhéanamh dom pas a fháil amach_ ," she finally told him. "If you want me to," she added as he looked startled.

"Well," Castle said, thinking of the idea of making her pass out; which was what she'd just told him she wanted him to do. "You don't really mind it so I think I can accommodate you."

"And what you want?" Beckett asked him while she sat up.

"I think you know that already," Castle said as he studied her intently. He was pleased when she asked, "What?" as it allowed him to breathe to her, " _Tú_ ," in Irish before he closed the gap in between them.

Cupping her husband's face Beckett let him lay her back down before they were furiously dueling, not sure what had set them to doing that. She responded the best she could until finally they were slowing down and when they parted she whispered, "Help me."

Though he was thinking about taking things slowly Castle went along with her and they undressed each other in a bit of a rush. After they had finished and were naked he stopped her from getting back onto the bed, sitting on the edge on her side before he reached for her. Since he was tall enough she didn't have to bend over too much before he was able to reach her breasts. He kissed over them first, slowly and carefully, and then moved to capture her right nipple with his mouth. He wanted to spend his time there, suckling at it, before she moved away. " _Damn it_ ," he swore in Irish.

"Sorry, I'm going to get uncomfortable," Beckett told him, squeezing his hand before she moved to lie on the bed. She wasn't surprised when her husband was quick to follow her and she opened her arms to him before they kissed once more. That time they were a lot more careful and after stopping she said, "What-" when she was cut off by his lips on her neck. She cried out heavily in pleasure before he was descending lower and she reached out to him to try and stop him but he wasn't letting her and she could only reach for the pillow beneath her head as he went further over her body.

Castle knew he was going to take his wife by surprise when he passed her breasts, merely spending seconds there, before he was going back and forth over her abdomen. Feeling her shuddering slightly beneath his touch he went further down to her mound and pulled back, enough so he could cup it with his hand. As she was breathing harder and much more loudly he stroked her skin where he could, using his thumb mainly before he leaned down. He felt her body flinch in reaction to the touch of his lips though it was natural and only for a second and he was quick to kiss her all over. When he went to lie with her he proceeded to murmur into her ear.

"Really?" Beckett said, slightly smiling though she was still dealing with the pleasure that was running through her. "You never ask."

Not answering that as he knew she was taunting him Castle pressed her down into the bed as he kissed her, somehow able to reach for her wrists and place them up above her head. "I can rescind," he told her seriously, pressing his body deliberately down onto hers.

"Don't," Beckett breathed out as she couldn't go unaffected by what he was doing to her in that moment. "Just let me go." When he immediately did so she was following him to kiss him gently on the lips. " _Níl mé eagla a bhfuil tú_ ," she whispered, essentially telling him she wasn't afraid with him.

" _Is gá dom a adhradh tú_ ," Castle told her to explain that he had moved so fast as he felt a need to worship her.

"You already were," Beckett replied before she waited for him to lie down. She kissed him then, deeply, and let her right hand that wasn't holding herself up wander around him as he was groaning against her mouth. "So," she said.

"Yeah, I won't stop you," Castle said swiftly. When she nuzzled his lips with hers he tried to kiss her but she was moving away from him. As she began to drift over his collarbone he was holding on tightly to her, so much so that he didn't realize that she couldn't move until she was speaking.

"Rick?" Beckett said. When he immediately let her go, apologizing, she said, "That's alright. I would recommend you keep your hands off me though. Until I'm done."

"That's not going to happen," Castle said. He was slightly startled when she didn't respond and he realized why when she began to kiss around his chest. Groaning again as he felt a good degree of pleasure at her touch he couldn't stop himself, holding onto her tightly before she glanced up at him. "Sorry, sorry," he said quickly as he let her go.

"It's alright," Beckett said, trying not to let her amusement show too much. She brushed a kiss to his lips before she moved down to his chest again. But she didn't really linger there; since he'd done the same to her breasts; and was soon reaching his abdomen.

"If you-" Castle started to say.

"Don't worry," Beckett interrupted him before she kissed him again. She then let her fingers brush against his erection slightly before she turned her attention back to his abdomen. She tried not to laugh at the way he was almost glaring at her. "What else did you want me to do?"

Castle finally had to admit she was right and that if she had done anything else it would have been too much. He sighed and then said, "What do you want to do now?"

"Come here," Beckett said with a smile before she reached for him. Laying back she brought him with her and murmured, "Do you think you can stand this for longer than a few minutes?"

"Is that a challenge?" Castle asked as he was pressed tightly against her body.

"I think so," Beckett replied. When he breathed out she said, "With me touching you."

"Oh, that's just unfair," Castle protested. When she smiled he sighed and said, "Touching what though?"

"Whatever I want," Beckett said. She was slightly surprised when he just sighed and then lay flat on his back next to her. Turning to drape her body over him; as she knew he really enjoyed; she said thoughtfully, "You have little self-control sometimes."

"You break that in me," Castle told her seriously. "And I love that you do," he added before drawing her to him so they could kiss passionately. He was tasting her and feeling her against him and he groaned eventually, pulling her off. "Sorry, we need to stop," he explained as she was watching him.

"Don't you mean we need to start?" Beckett asked.

"I don't want this to be too fast," Castle finally explained.

"Were you planning on coming with me?" Beckett asked him.

"No but still it's hard to last after," Castle explained.

Beckett understood what he meant so she thought for a moment; as he leaned over to brush his lips to her neck; before she stopped him. "We need to delay things," she told him.

"Yeah," Castle replied slowly as it would be more difficult for him whenever they attempted that.

"I need to be aroused again," Beckett said.

"Could I use-" Castle started to say rapidly in his zeal.

"Yes," Beckett replied, unable to help smiling at his tone. When he kissed her, she was ready for him, holding onto him tightly until they slowly parted. "Hmm, it won't take me long."

"What else can I do?" Castle replied as he began to gather the pillows they would need.

"We'll think of something then," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband looked at him and she then said, "I can't want this badly myself?"

"I just like knowing you do," Castle said with a wide smile at her. He leaned over and then kissed her gently, their tongues lightly tangling before parting again. " _Ready_?" he asked.

Beckett couldn't find the words to speak and instead she moved to allow him to get her set on the pile of pillows there were. On her arms, she looked back at her husband and biting at her lower lip she asked him, "Could you… go slowly at first?"

"Of course," Castle said, unable to help the way his voice had become tender at her hesitation. He leaned over and kissed at the back of shoulder before he proceeded to enter her. As she cried out softly when he slipped the very tip of his erection inside of her he had to remind himself he would need to be gentle as she'd asked for it. Because of that he paused and took the time to recover his control before he was moving inside of her again. He was almost gasping at the way she felt around him, holding onto him tightly until they were coupled. Feeling the way she was still ahead of him he knew things weren't going to last but they were both aware of that already. Finally, he knew he needed to move and he leaned down, kissing at her shoulders before he was doing so.

The first thrust and Beckett was crying out heavily, immensely pleased that her husband had understood her request and was moving fast after that point. She clutched at the bed underneath her and held the sheet tightly in her hands to try and give her some sort of distraction. But when he very quickly managed to find her g-spot she knew she wasn't going to be able to use anything to keep her from giving in. And with only a few quick jerks against her she was climaxing, crying out her husband's name as loudly as she could as the waves searching around her body were intense and they didn't stop. They were so strong that she only hoped she had lasted a little longer than a few seconds before she could feel unconsciousness hold her and pull her into it roughly.

Castle had no idea exactly how he was able to resist his wife while she was orgasming. But he managed to move away from her and he held her tightly once she was on her back, watching her go through her pleasure as he felt himself throbbing heavily still and missing her greatly. He lay there, motionless, as she blacked out until he felt her finally begin to move. "Okay?" he asked her as he checked to make sure that she was awake.

"Hmm… yes," Beckett breathed, sighing as she could still feel him within her though she knew he was next to her. When she felt a little stronger she said, "Did you?"

"You'd know," Castle said quickly. "I wouldn't leave you if I went that far."

Beckett nodded before she realized he was moving away from her and she opened her eyes to watch him go over to where she kept her vibrator and she smiled saying, "You should keep it-"

"I'm not going to use it," Castle said. "You are," he told her as he was back on the bed and handed her the toy. "I'll make sure you don't go too far."

Giving him a look Beckett waited for him to move the pillows out of the way before she was turning on the blue plastic. She smiled when he quickly got back next to her and she proceeded to run it around her sex. She was a little random at first, what she usually did to begin her arousal, until she pressed slightly more deliberately to her clit. The groan her husband gave her was no surprise and she tried not to let it affect her too much as the vibrator was doing a good job of that already.

Castle was tempted to start tearing out his hair in his thwarted pleasure but he kept himself from it by focusing his full attention on his wife. He could have easily drooled in his desire staring at her and the obvious joy that masked her face but then realized she was beginning to keep her eyes closed. He knew what that meant immediately and he reached for the vibrator to get it out of her hand. When she looked at him in protest he said, "I can't wait anymore."

"Couldn't…" Beckett began to say before her husband was getting on top of her. She groaned as the weight of him was a deep comfort and she then watched him as he began to move his hips against her. She gasped in her surprise at him doing that but then began to move with him until she wrapped her legs around him tightly before he finally slipped into her. Filled by him again her eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head before she managed to recover. "Oh god Rick, don't… don't stop this time," she begged him as he affected her almost immediately.

"I won't, I can't," Castle assured her before he leaned down and kissed her intently. Shortly after that he began to thrust against her, going quickly nearly immediately. He hissed as she cried out below him, their hips smacking together since she had begun to move with him, and he was relieved he'd started. The friction between them was rough, as it had been before she'd climaxed the first time, and he was soon going even harder against her as his body became greedy to feel more of her.

Crying out every time their bodies met Beckett was amazed she could last as they were very intense with each other and she was drawing him deeper within her body with her legs twined around him still. He was also managing to strike her clit and that was setting off literal explosions inside of her, fully in her, until she couldn't stop what was inevitable. She tried to give her husband some warning and cried out to him, "I'm going to come! Oh, Rick please come with me! I love you… Rick!" She ended up orgasming heavily as soon as she had told her husband the last and she did her best to not hurt him as her nails were on his back but it was difficult. The ecstasy rushing through her and the way she was throbbing around Castle was too much. But what gave her a moment's pause was feeling him beginning to orgasm a few seconds after her and she tightened her grasp on him even more as the sensation of the realization of his satisfaction was making her burn in absolute joy. She stopped moving when her pleasure petered out but she kept embracing her husband tightly until finally he was stopping with a heavy groan of her name.

"I think," Castle began when he felt he had the strength to speak. "You're going to kill me in the most amazing way possible."

Beckett let out a mock sigh before she said, "Again why would I want to do that? I can't do all this by myself." She then hesitated before she said slowly, "Well… maybe I could with the-"

"Vibrator," the two said at the same time.

With a smile Castle moved to lie next to her and said, "We can't do anything else, can we?"

"Not really," Beckett said. "Not unless you want to be tired for the game," she said as he got up to turn off the fire.

"David would kill me if I did that," Castle commented before he joined her in getting dressed back into their pajamas. When his wife laughed softly and then nodded he kissed her cheek before he lay down under the covers with her. "Kate?" he then said as something came to mind at that moment.

"What?" Beckett asked, looking up at him.

"What was Julia talking about earlier before we put her to bed?" Castle replied.

Beckett hesitated for a moment before she finally said, "I was almost dozing off while she was taking her shower."

"We wore each other out last night," Castle replied, rubbing her arm as she was in his hold against his side which allowed him to do that.

"We did, probably better we just go to sleep," Beckett said. She felt him kissing her forehead and she murmured, "Thank you."

"For what?" Castle asked, knowing she wasn't talking about that night.

"For not giving her a chance to ask you," Beckett replied with a smile.

"And if she had I wouldn't have agreed," Castle reminded her, holding her a little closer. "That's the last time I'm going to tell you."

Beckett couldn't help laughing slightly before she said, "Alright, I just wanted to say that; I really mean that."

With a nod Castle brought him to her and they kissed fervently while he was holding onto her as tightly as he could. "Are you eager for the game tomorrow?" he asked her as they settled back on the bed when they'd stopped, panting together for air.

"I may be," Beckett said easily. "And stop delaying and get some sleep."

"What about you?" Castle asked. When she glared at him he smiled before saying, "It feels like it's too early."

"And this is why I nearly took a nap earlier," Beckett said with a laugh. She leaned up and kissed him gently before they slowly parted and she said, "I love you Rick."

"I love you too Kate," Castle said. " _Gcónaí_?"

Smiling at how fast he'd translated the word always into Irish, Beckett nodded and then repeated, " _Gcónaí_." She then pressed against him once more and murmured, "I still could."

"Me too but… I don't want you to nap during the game," Castle replied, rubbing her arm again.

Kissing his jaw line gently Beckett said, "I'll be awake. Goodnight love."

"Night Kate," Castle replied. He watched her close her eyes and soon relax against him, making him smile as she looked incredibly peaceful. He then settled back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember plays he and David had tried to make up for their games. But finally fatigue won out and he was nodding off, forgetting the game as he was soon dreaming and focusing joyfully on his wife after the intense pleasure they'd shared that night.


	6. Who Won The Match

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Nice to get the feedback I did for the last chapter so will go ahead and get to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (I had to laugh a bit at your mention of the flashbacks but nice to see that you liked those. I wasn't surprised at your mention of Meredith and thinking that's she's up to no good, I figured readers would think that. And in my mind, I figured readers would recall Meredith the first time she'd been on and Castle while she was around, it's why I have Beckett slightly insecure with her there, so I'm glad that though you found it was weird you thought it was understandable! And I'm happy you had the reaction you did to the polo, lol, since of course that means you like it. It was interesting to see you think Martha will figure out Meredith's plans. Your speculation was interesting as well, and don't worry, I can understand why you got excited about thinking Meredith might be the killer or victim. And you're right, shit does happen. Not surprised that you're asking about a Caskett baby again. Also, nice to see you thought it was great writing as usual!),  
TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought it was a good chapter. And I'm so happy you like how Beckett is with Julia, I still want them to have a good relationship so I like writing that. And nice that you thought the second half was a good chapter too!) and  
vetgirlmx (Great that you enjoyed the shorter chapter before the last one. I'm so happy you found it very intriguing and not surprised you have gruesome ideas about what it was about. Will have to see if you're right at all as things go on of course. And nice to see you thought the longer chapter was really good too! I'm not surprised you hate Meredith, I always have too. But not surprised you thought it was a shock seeing her since it's been a while since she was last… well, lol, technically it's about ten years since Castle and Beckett saw her since the eppy Significant Others doesn't apply to this series of course as I said- I never could stand how Beckett got chummy with Meredith in that one, it made no sense with the timing of her appearance at the loft. Anyways, lol, you made a good point that Alexis can't avoid her but she won't want her close either, I figured that would definitely continue. Nice to see you noticed Julia's reaction to the tension, I figure with all she's been through she'd take notice of things and I wanted that tension to be really apparent. But glad you think she's really perceptive 'cause I definitely want her to see that way! I was a little unsure how to exactly write Beckett, I couldn't see her as outright pissed as that to me would lend it a soap opera quality that I didn't see for her, so I just have her annoyed to a more extreme degree… if that makes sense, lol. But still trying to be civil, I see her as attempting to be like that. But glad you saw her reaction as not surprising and that you thought Martha and Alexis' reactions funny, lol. And yeah, I wanted there to be some slight mystery as to her motives being there so glad you mentioned that no one really knows right now why since that's where I was going. I figured Meredith would do something like that before her marriage… she just seemed to do that, lol. But I'm glad you thought it was a thousand years ago it felt like when they heard she was getting married as I'd wanted that thought to go through readers' minds. And yeah, I can tell you're wondering what'd going to happen and I love that you're intrigued. Not surprised you want to find some answers either, I figured people would and that's great to know. Pleased to see you can't wait for the next chapter and now you don't need to anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them as usual and am so grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Somedays_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _Flaming Pie_.

Who Won The Match

Looking over at her husband as he was blinking his eyes Beckett watched him until he opened them fully and turned his attention to her. "Good morning," she said with a smile.

Groaning slightly, Castle sat up before he said, "Morning. I feel like I just closed my eyes."

"I know but it's seven thirty," Beckett replied. "Will you get up?" When he nodded she leaned over and kissed him gently before he was holding onto her a little tightly to kiss her again. She moaned softly as he plunged his tongue into her mouth and she did her best to fight him until finally they slowly parted. "I guess you will."

"I'll be fine," Castle said, knowing that she was referencing his erection that she could see. "But I'm going to need a second."

"Get dressed," Beckett told him simply. She leaned over and brushed her lips against his before she slid off the bed and went around to the closet to change herself. Going into the bathroom she was shortly after joined by her husband and they got ready at the same time.

"Breakfast-" Castle began to say as he looked at his wife.

"I'll get it, you can take care of the girls today," Beckett replied simply.

"Okay," Castle said easily. He watched her finishing with her make up and said, "Still tired?"

"I woke up in the middle of the night," Beckett explained. "And it took me a little longer to fall back asleep."

"We'll get some rest tonight," Castle told her. He wasn't surprised when she turned to look at him and he said, "Seriously."

"Even if you win?" Beckett asked.

"Even if we win," Castle replied with a nod of his head. "I'm tired too."

Beckett studied him to see if he was telling the truth but could see that he was so she nodded and said, "Thank you."

"Though it would be nice we don't have to be together every night," Castle said as she walked up to him. He wrapped his arm around her and brought her close before they began to kiss and a bit passionately. But he didn't let it linger, moving away from her and looking at her with a smile on his face. "This would be nice though," he told her seriously.

"Even though I'm doing that whenever you score?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Yep," Castle said seriously. He smiled after she brushed her lips to his and then said, "We need to wake them up?"

"We should," Beckett said before he let her go. They walked together out of the room and to their daughters' rooms, splitting up once they were there. She went into Julia's first and saw that her oldest was rubbing at her eyes and with a smile she said, "Good morning sweetie."

"Morning Mommy," Julia said with a sigh as she looked at her. She sat up and said, "Is it raining?"

"Oh no, the sun's out," Beckett replied as she was opening the blinds. "But it did rain last night."

"Did Gram come home?" Julia then asked as she moved to get up.

"She did, pick something warm it's still supposed to be cold today," Beckett told her. She hugged her daughter tightly and said, "I'm going to check on your sister and then get started on breakfast."

"I can change by myself," Julia said. "But I can ask Daddy to braid my hair, right?"

"Of course," Beckett said before she shared a kiss with her. She left the room and went into Eliza's, seeing that Castle was helping her to change. "Good morning," she said to the little girl who smiled widely at her.

"Morning Mommy!" Eliza said eagerly. "Is it time for the game?"

"Soon," Beckett said as she went to her daughter and hugged her tightly before sharing a kiss with her. "I need to make breakfast so let your Daddy help."

"I will," Eliza said seriously before she watched her mother leave. "Are you ready Daddy?"

"Of course," Castle said as he pulled down her sweater over her head.

"Did you kiss Mommy good morning?" Eliza then asked.

"I did," Castle answered as he looked at her then, wondering why she'd asked. When she didn't say anything else he helped her into her tights and then skirt before saying, "Is that what helped me get ready?" with a smile.

"Yep," Eliza said simply, smiling at him.

"Okay," Castle said with a slight laugh. "I'll go get your brush."

"Hi Jules!" Eliza said when her sister came into the room.

"Hi, where's Daddy?" Julia asked.

"I'm here, morning sweetheart," Castle said, wrapping his arm around her tightly. He pulled her with him over to the bed and they sat down before they shared a kiss and he said, "Sleep alright?"

"Yep, did you?" Julia asked.

"Very well but we need to hurry," Castle said. "That way our oatmeal won't be cold."

"Ooh, I don't like it when it's cold," Julia said jokingly to her sister. After they giggled together she said, "Could you braid my hair Daddy?"

"Sure," Castle said as he was brushing Eliza's hair. "Did you brush out yours?"

"I did, I can do that," Julia said with a smile.

"Of course you can," Martha said from the doorway. She smiled as both girls gasped at the sight of her and said, "Hello and good morning you two."

"Hi Gram!" Eliza cried out. "How was your party?"

"It was very nice; a dinner kiddo," Martha replied. "I hope yours was too."

"It was, Mommy and Daddy made a really great roast," Julia answered.

"How are you Richard?" Martha asked her son as he was beginning to prepare Julia's hair for a braid.

"I'm fine, hungry," Castle said. He then proceeded to braid Julia's hair rapidly before he tied it off and then said, "Let's go and see if your mom might still need our help." He let the girls take his hands and then led the way downstairs as his mother walked behind them with the dogs alongside her.

"So, everyone's ready," Beckett said as she turned to find the others were walking down the hall. "Morning Martha," she said to her mother in law.

"Good morning, how is it going?" Castle's mother said as she watched her son make some tea.

"Well I'm almost done," Beckett said, turning to the island where she'd set some brown sugar, cranberries and raisins on the counter.

"Do we need to set the table?" Julia asked.

"Please," Beckett said. "I can get the juice-" she started to say to her husband as he was getting oranges.

"I'll take care of the drinks," Castle replied. "Focus on the oatmeal." He laughed when she threw the dish towel at him but he used it then quickly before he focused again on the oranges to cut them up.

When the table was set and everyone was sitting together around it they began to eat in silence at first before Martha was speaking.

"What time do we need to leave?" she asked.

"The game is at ten," Beckett said. "So, at the very least by nine-twenty."

"How long do we have?" Julia asked.

"That depends on how long we take to eat," Castle answered. "So worry about that later."

"Can't Macca and Rita go?" Eliza asked, looking at the dogs then.

"We told you already sweetie," Beckett said lovingly and with a smile. "They don't allow dogs at the field. But they'll be alright, they'll rest before we come back home."

Though she wasn't happy about that Eliza finally nodded before she then watched the others eating and her parents talking to each other. She was tempted to feed the dogs some oatmeal as they were on the floor in between herself and her sister but felt a hand on her arm.

"They'll have their own breakfast soon darling," Martha told her.

"Kay," Eliza said. She soon finished her oatmeal and gave her bowl to her mother as they were all finished by then. With her grandmother's help, she was down on the floor and she immediately hugged Macca who licked her cheek before she did the same with Rita who did the same to her. "How much time Mommy?" she asked.

"Forty-five minutes," Castle answered instead. "We'll tell you when it's almost time for you to go."

"Let's play with the dogs before we go," Julia said to her sister before they began to go around the hallway with Macca and Rita following them.

Castle and Beckett cleaned up the kitchen quickly as Martha was watching their daughters and once they had finished they sat with her to watch the two.

"Rick," Beckett eventually said to him, touching his arm with her hand.

"Time?" Castle asked. When his wife nodded he stood with her and his mother before they then walked together to gather the girls and head out to the polo fields.

* * *

"Good luck Daddy," Eliza was saying, hugging her father's neck before he could set her down.

"Thank you and if you two get bored-" Castle started to say.

"We won't," Julia said in protest. "We never do."

"They haven't," Beckett said when he looked at her.

"Not for my games?" Castle asked.

"That can't really surprise you Richard," Martha commented.

"It did a little… the horses?" Castle said.

"Stop," Beckett said firmly though she was smiling at the same time. "He's kidding girls he knows you're paying attention."

Setting Eliza down after he'd kissed her temple Castle kissed Julia's forehead; as she'd already wished him luck; and he said, "I'll see you after the game." He watched his mother take the girls over to the stands where people were already gathering and he looked at his wife.

Before Beckett could say anything, someone called out to them and she and Castle looked to see that it was Brad.

"You made it out," Castle said, shaking his friend's hand once they'd reached him. "But why the civilian clothes?"

"I'm still on duty," Brad replied. "I just figured I'd blend in; Hutchinson and Rice are with me."

"Nice," Castle replied. "So, you'll watch?"

"When I can," Brad said. "Just wanted to let you know I'm here and good luck."

"Thanks," Castle said before he left them.

"We better go," Beckett said when her husband looked at her. They walked together to the building that housed the changing rooms and she said, "Any idea what you have yet?"

"No, can I persuade you to come inside?" Castle asked. He laughed when she pushed him; very lightly; and said, "One of these days…"

"That's going to be a recurring dream, it's not going to happen," Beckett said wryly.

Castle made a slight face but he'd been expecting that since she always said it when they talked about her going into the men's changing room with him. "Okay, I'll…" he said when they had reached the entrance.

"I'll be here," Beckett said simply before he went inside. She turned around and looked over at the horses that were gathered for the team's use. She was tempted to go over to them when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Hey David," she said as the man walked out.

"Have you seen Becca?" the man asked as he stopped next to her.

"No, was she supposed to be here?" Beckett asked him.

"Oh wait, where were you?" David asked as he watched his wife rushing up to them.

"Sorry, I was looking at the horses," Rebecca replied before she leaned into him and kissed him quickly on the lips. "So Rick's inside?"

"He is," Beckett said before they embraced quickly. "And the horses?"

"They're good," Rebecca replied. "What about Jason and Theo?"

"They're here, changing too," David said before the two other men on the team walked out. "Tell Rick we'll be waiting for him on the field."

With a nod Beckett watched them go before she turned her attention back to the entrance to the room. "You were quick," she commented when her husband walked out to her.

"They were taunting me," Castle replied, handing her his helmet so he could shift his mallet into a better grip. "Never mind they were here before we were. Did David mention the horses?"

"Rebecca saw them," Beckett replied with a smile as she could tell from his tone that he was turning his attention fully to the game. "She said they're good."

Castle merely grunted as he was trying to put on his gloves but was having trouble with his mallet.

"You always do that," Beckett said as she took it before they stopped so he could finish putting the one onto his right hand first.

"I should just do it in the changing room but they're always first out," Castle replied. "Okay," he said, looking at her with a slight smile.

"I'll be watching," Beckett replied. She leaned in as he was doing the same and they kissed briefly before parting. "Good luck," she told him after cupping his cheek. She wasn't surprised when he pulled her into him again and they were kissing once more before parting. "That one," she said as she stayed in place to watch him watch the line of horses they could choose for the game.

Looking at the horse, a Quarter and Appaloosa mix, Castle ran his hand over the nose of it once it had his scent. "Charlie," he called; since the horses were provided by the stables he and Beckett kept their horses at.

"That's Blanket," the owner said, handing him the reins. "Fast and agile, he's new to the stable though."

Castle was going to ask his wife to come see the horse when he realized she was right next to him. He watched her reach out her hand, not surprised when the stallion bowed its head to it immediately.

Murmuring slightly in Irish, Beckett watched as the horse tossed its head and then told her husband, "He's fine."

"Hey Kate, why don't you tell us our horses?" Theo called to her.

"That one you have will fight your commands," Beckett said, studying the thoroughbred he was next to. "And Jason? That one will be too slow and shy away when you're surrounded. Take the Criollo and Theo take the palomino Quarter. And David you're fine with your Thoroughbred."

"How do you do that?" Jason asked as he and Theo were switching.

"I'm guessing," Beckett said with a shrug. She then stepped away from her husband, watching as he mounted the Appaloosa. "Good?" she asked once he was set.

"I think so, thank you," Castle said as he took his helmet from her.

"Watch on your left," Beckett told him. "He had a slight strain in his front leg before but since you're going to favor your right it shouldn't be an issue."

" _I'm in awe of you, you know_ ," Castle said as he looked down at her once he was ready.

"I just… know," Beckett said to try and explain to him.

"I'm aware and I stand by what I said," Castle replied. "You'll be along the fence?"

"Like I always am," Beckett said with a smile as she handed him his mallet. Their hands met and though he was wearing gloves she could still feel the warmth through it before she lowered her arm. " _Good luck_ ," she said in Irish, repeating it for the horse before she stepped away to Rebecca.

"It's uncanny but not unheard of," the woman commented. When Beckett looked at her she smiled and said, "I knew someone like you, a long time ago." She nodded to Charlie and said, "The owner before he bought the stables was like you but he didn't quite have the same touch… I'm assuming it's the Irish; he didn't know how to speak it."

"Let's go to the fence before they start," Beckett said laughingly. When they were near the stands she spotted her daughters, sitting with Mari and Dani. "Did you just pass them off to my mother in law?"

"She was fine with it," Rebecca replied. "They're riding out," she then said, looking at the field.

Beckett followed her gaze and then climbed up on the bottom rail of the fence; an unusual component at the field but one she appreciated; with Rebecca to watch their husbands riding behind the refs and two riders carrying the American flag and the New York State flag.

"Is that our flag?" Eliza asked her grandmother, pointing to the dark blue one.

"It is," Martha said simply before she was helping the girls stand; including Dani; for the national anthem.

Castle, waiting for the song to finish, scanned the crowd after he'd been able to pick out his wife on the fence where she usually was during the games. His eyes suddenly stopped on a woman with familiar hair and he couldn't quite hold back the groan he made at the sight of her.

"What?" David whispered.

"My ex," Castle mumbled, having told the man about Meredith quickly when he'd been changing.

"You knew she'd be here," David told her as the spectators were applauding.

"I was hoping," Castle began to say before they were then moving around the middle of the field to get ready for the beginning.

Watching her husband as he gave a few practice swings of his mallet Beckett then turned her attention to the ref before he was throwing down the ball. As the game began with that she held her breath as Castle was using his mallet to get the ball away, passing it ahead to David before he galloped down the field to be able to take it.

Calling out to his friend Castle tried to get the ball under his control but one of the other team member's riders managed to hit it behind them. He cursed in Irish and then wheeled his horse around to its right, riding back as fast as he could to catch up as Theo managed to get the ball back.

Holding onto the top railing of the fence Beckett's gaze was locked on the game, holding her breath as her husband neared the goal on the other team's end. When he scored she whistled immediately; a short one that was higher in pitch he would recognize was her.

"I was quick this time," Castle said as he galloped over to her.

"You're impatient," Beckett teased him before she stood on the second railing and then reached up, cupping his face with her hands before they kissed. It was quick; since the game would be starting up again; and she whispered, " _Wonderful shot_."

Touching the end of his helmet with the tips of his fingers Castle rode off as he heard his wife laughing at the gesture; as she would do.

"Were they reacting?" Beckett asked Rebecca as they waited for game play to start again.

"Of course," the woman replied. "But who's that woman?"

"What woman?" Beckett asked in confusion, looking at her.

"Her," Rebecca said, merely looking as she knew her friend would follow her gaze.

Doing that Beckett sighed when she caught sight of who Rebecca was talking about and she said, "Meredith."

"His ex?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes," Beckett said shortly as she looked at the players as they were riding again.

"She keeps looking over here at you," Rebecca said. "She's not here to kill you and take him back is she?"

"No," Beckett said briefly. She frowned and said, "I don't know why she's here." She then hesitated before she looked at her friend and said, "If she starts coming over to me let me know."

"Of course," Rebecca replied before she stood up on the railing with her.

The first half of the game soon ended and Castle rode off the field with David saying, "Good start."

"You're doing a great job," David commented before they were dismounting. He tried not to laugh but couldn't stop it from coming out in his voice as he told his friend, "I'm surprised the other teams don't protest that idea of the kiss."

"A few of them do that now," Castle protested. "And besides it's not like it's enticing me to score goals."

"But it helps," David said. He laughed when Castle threw his mallet at him so he'd be able to catch it by the handle. "Going to see your girls?"

"And my wife, come on," Castle told him before they made their way over to the spectators.

As David walked past her to go over to his family, Beckett turned her attention to her husband and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. "You've done a great job," she told him once they parted.

"David scored twice," Castle replied though he was grateful for that. He embraced her again before she was stepping aside and he knelt slightly to take their daughters into his arms. "Are you two having fun?" he asked with a laugh as they were exclaiming over the game so far.

"Yeah," Julia said first. "You did a really good job."

"Yeah you scored two times!" Eliza said eagerly.

"I know, I'm trying my best," Castle said.

"They're right, so far so good Richard," Martha said in amusement as she watched her son hugging the girls again.

"Let's hope it stays that way," Castle said, looking over at the scoreboard where it read 4-3.

"Oh, here's some water Daddy," Julia said as she recalled what she was holding in one of her hands.

"Thanks, I really need this," Castle said, taking the bottle from her. He took a drink and said, "You're not tired?"

"No," Eliza said since he'd been talking to her. "I'm having fun watching the horsies." When her sister whispered to her she quickly said, "And you."

"Good to hear," Castle said laughingly. He then squeezed her shoulder before he said, "Better go and help them cover the divots."

"We'll take them," Rebecca said, coming over with David and their daughters.

Watching Martha join them Castle turned to his wife and they spoke at the same time. "Sorry, go ahead," he told her.

"She's here," Beckett said.

"I know, I saw," Castle replied with a sigh. "Did she go over to you at all?"

"No, according to Rebecca she was just looking at me," Beckett said, looking over at the field where she could see his ex-wife talking to some people.

"Menacingly?" Castle asked before he was surprised when she laughed softly.

"Rebecca would have said," Beckett answered after kissing his cheek. "And she didn't." She then became thoughtful and told him, " _I think she's trying to figure this out_."

" _This meaning what… our marriage_?" Castle asked. When she nodded he was going to scoff when he paused and thought that over before he said, " _I guess. The last time she saw you, you were obviously a dedicated detective_."

 _"She might even be trying to see if I'm worthy enough for you_ ," Beckett added. When her husband looked at her she said, " _Don't give me that look, she probably is. I am her daughter's stepmother remember_."

" _You do realize she won't because she's setting out not to think that_ ," Castle pointed out. As she looked at him he said, " _I don't agree with her in the slightest, to me you're perfect; even your imperfections_."

Hoping that her cheeks weren't too red at the sincerity in her husband's voice Beckett took a moment before she said, " _Thank you. And I was going to say, I don't care what she thinks_."

" _What about me_?" Castle asked.

Smiling Beckett leaned over to kiss him gently before leaning back and saying, " _I already know how you feel about me_ ," pressing her ring finger against his cheek as her hand was cupping it.

Castle kissed her before they slowly pulled away and he said, " _How much time is left_?"

" _Five minutes_ ," Beckett said. She smiled when he sighed and she said, " _They're excited for you_ Rick."

" _How can you tell if you're not sitting with them_?" Castle asked jokingly.

" _They're your daughters love_ ," Beckett said easily and with a smile.

" _Ours_ ," Castle told her before they walked out to the field and joined their family in replacing the dislodged chunks of earth and grass.

"Is that it?" Eliza asked as she realized they were walking off the field.

"It's time for your father to ride again kiddo," Martha told her before Castle was picking the little girl up.

"Are you gonna ride the same horsie?" Eliza asked him.

"I need to switch," Castle told her. "Or else Blanket will get tired."

"Blanket?" Julia asked.

"That's the name of the horse," Beckett answered.

"Your mom picked out the horses for us," Castle told them.

"I did," Beckett said with a smile as the girls looked immediately at her.

"You're going to do that again right?" Castle asked her.

Beckett hesitated for a moment before she then nodded and said, "Alright."

"Good luck Daddy," Julia said when they were near the stands again.

"Yeah, score more," Eliza said to him.

Laughing slightly Castle hugged them and said, "I'll do my best girls." He then waved to Rebecca and her daughters before he walked with his wife and David over to the horses still available for the team.

Studying them Beckett picked out horses for Theo and Jason quickly before she chose between two possibilities for David. It took her a little longer to find her husband's horse but she finally settled on what turned out to be a pure Appaloosa.

"You're sure?" Castle asked when she turned to him.

"Very, come on," Beckett replied to him before she watched him hold his hand out to the stallion. "Good luck," she said, holding his mallet for him as she waited for him to get on the saddle.

Pausing before he could do that Castle turned and then kissed her on the lips tenderly before he slowly pulled away. "Thanks again," he told her.

With a smile Beckett nodded and then stepped away to watch him before she walked back to where Rebecca was, realizing that someone was walking away from her. "Was that Meredith?" she asked her friend.

"It was," Rebecca said. "She asked if we were friends of yours; I just nodded and she left right now."

"That was it?" Beckett asked.

"That was it," Rebecca said. "Listen, Brad isn't too far away-"

"I can't ask him to make her leave," Beckett interrupted as she knew what her friend meant by that. "She's done nothing wrong." She saw the ball was thrown by the ref again and she quickly told Rebecca, "As long as she doesn't try to fight with me she can stay; she has the right."

Out on the field Castle managed to get his stallion around to the side and hit the ball into the goal, seeing the flag being waved behind it before he yelled out with his team. He made his way to the fence where his wife was and he smiled at her saying, "That has to be a record."

"Now you're showing off," Beckett said teasingly before they kissed for a moment. She cupped his cheek momentarily before he tapped his helmet again and she watched him ride off, something in that moment reminding her of his very first polo game and when they'd done it after his first goal.


	7. Who Won The Match (Part 2)

_"He'll do alright," Rebecca said, squeezing her friend's arm as they sat in the stands. She was surprised when Beckett still didn't stop moving her hands unconsciously and she was about to speak when the woman jumped up. "What is it?" she asked._

 _"I'm watching from here," Beckett replied simply, going up to the fence. She stood up on the first railing and looked out on the field. She stared at her husband closely, keeping her eyes on him as he rode around trying to get the ball down to the goal. Sucking in a slight breath of air at the way he was fighting over it with a player on the other team she relaxed when they soon parted and then proceeded to ride again. Castle managed to get the ball back and she was clutching the fence tightly as he made his way back down the field until he reached the goal. Seeing the flag waving after he'd scored she cheered, whistling for him before he suddenly rode over to her. "You saw me?" she asked when he was close._

 _"I heard you, thanks," Castle said, smiling at her. When she stepped up he was going to speak when she was cupping his cheeks and pulling him to her. The kiss was very simple but no less enjoyable and he told her, "Do that again."_

 _"After your next goal," Beckett said as a promise, stepping down._

 _Castle couldn't help himself and he gave her before he then rode over to the rest of the team so the game could start again._

 _"Nice," Rebecca said jokingly._

 _"You could do that with David," Beckett said, looking at her._

 _"That's more your thing," Rebecca replied. When her friend looked at her they started to laugh before they looked back out to watch their husbands' game._

 _Beckett only kissed her husband one more time and as she waited for him to get off his last horse she hoped he wouldn't be disappointed. "You did fantastic," she said to him as she embraced him as soon as he was walking to her._

 _"I thought so too, considering this was my debut," Castle replied. When they parted he said with a smile, "I don't care we lost."_

 _"Good," Beckett replied. "Go change and we'll have lunch."_

 _With a nod Castle squeezed her hand and then went to the changing room to get back into his street clothes. After he walked back out to his wife he said, "I invited David and Rebecca but he didn't seem too eager."_

 _"Their kids are out too," Beckett explained._

 _Castle pretended to think about that before he nodded and then said, "I can understand that."_

 _Beckett laughed softly and kissed his cheek before she said, "Maybe we should do that again."_

 _"The kiss? Yeah, I really enjoyed that," Castle told her. When she rolled her eyes at him he smiled and said, "It was nice." He thought of something and then asked, "What about our games?"_

 _"Let's just leave it for yours," Beckett said._

 _"Right," Castle replied, knowing she would want to focus when they played. They were at their car and he allowed her to drive before he asked, "Can I know where we're going?"_

 _"You'll see," Beckett said. As she was pulling out of the parking lot she said, "I just hope you don't mind it."_

 _Castle was a little surprised but he didn't say anything as he watched where they were going to. When he saw the building he smiled and said, "Wouldn't Julia be mad we went here without her?"_

 _"She's going to the family fun center with her sisters," Beckett said._

 _"You asked for her permission, didn't you?" Castle asked in amusement as they were getting out of the car._

 _"Not permission," Beckett said, glancing at him though she was doing her best not to smile outright at him. "I let her know and she was fine with it."_

 _"We have her permission," Castle reiterated. He laughed when she glared at him and then wrapped his arm around her. "Thank you for this, it'll be nice. Also, I'm glad I had the foresight to take a shower so I don't smell like horse in there."_

 _Beckett couldn't really reply to that as they were entering the restaurant where they'd gone with their oldest the day before their wedding. She gave their name; having reserved it the day before; and they were led to the tables where they were seated at a window looking out on the garden in the back of the building. "When's your next game?" she asked as they were seated and waiting for their tea and food._

 _"Two weeks from now," Castle replied. "Would it be okay if the girls went to it?"_

 _With a smile Beckett took her husband's hand; since they were sitting directly next to one another; and said, "I was planning on it, the weather today made me uneasy for Eliza's sake."_

 _"Me too," Castle said, bringing her hand up to his lips so he could kiss it._

 _"Rick," Beckett said softly as she watched him a little breathlessly._

 _Looking up at her as she straightened his back then Castle said, "_ We'll be alone when we get home _."_

 _"I know," Beckett whispered. She then smiled and brought her husband to her, kissing him gently before they slowly parted. "_ When we get home _."_

 _Castle realized that their waiter was coming over to them and he let her go reluctantly before they were given their food and after they had split everything up they began to eat._

 _"How are you feeling after that?" Beckett asked him._

 _"It was a lot of fun," Castle replied after taking a moment to think that over. "And a dream come true."_

 _"I thought of that when the game started," Beckett said with a smile._

 _"Is that why you went to the fence?" Castle asked._

 _"No, I just was… concerned," Beckett hesitated before she finally admitted. "It can be dangerous."_

 _"Believe me, everyone's aware of that and no one wants anything to happen to their horses," Castle said. "Now you understand how I feel about you when we play."_

 _"But I wouldn't have stopped you," Beckett added._

 _"And I wouldn't have done that to you either," Castle said. "So we're in agreement, we still play?"_

 _Laughing softly Beckett nodded before they began to talk about their plans for the rest of the weekend. When they reached the desserts on the top tier she broke a small chocolate cake in half and then fed him a part of it. She wasn't sure why but she reached over, gently cupping his cheek before he kissed her palm. "You know they say this is an aphrodisiac."_

 _"Too late," Castle said, keeping his voice low though they were essentially alone in the room._

 _"Pervert," Beckett retorted before they kissed gently on the lips. She had no idea how exactly they were able to finish their food but they did and she paid for the meal before they were going together to the car. As he started to drive home she suddenly said, "Go to the stables."_

 _"What?" Castle said._

 _"Let's go for a ride," Beckett replied. "The rain eased up."_

 _Smiling Castle nodded and at the next red light he turned to right, making his way to their stables. "I hate to say it," he commented once they were out of the car. "What if it rains again?"_

 _"I don't think it will," Beckett replied. She smiled at her husband as she knew that he was startled before she said, "I'm hoping."_

 _Castle laughed slightly before he squeezed her hand as they reached the office building of the stables. "Hey Charlie," he said to the owner who they were getting to know better after he'd bought the stables the year before when they'd first started going there._

 _"Hey Rick, Kate," Charlie replied with a smile as he walked down the steps from the porch. "Going to go riding today?"_

 _"We'd love to," Beckett replied._

 _"Perfect, there's a horse I want you to see Kate," Charlie told them before he led the way to one of the buildings. "We just got him today, our first Andalusian."_

 _"You managed to get one?" Beckett asked in surprise when they stopped at a stall._

 _"We did," Charlie replied, sounding extremely proud. "What do you think?"_

 _"Can I take him out?" Beckett replied. When he nodded she stepped up to the horse and held her hand to its nose, relieved when it nibbled slightly at her coat sleeve. She then opened the door to the stall and pulled the horse out by its reins before she then stopped the horse. "He looks beautiful," she said with a smile to the stable owner._

 _"He does," Castle said in agreement. "Hopefully you got a good deal on him; he looks like he would be expensive."_

 _"No, I made an exchange," Charlie said with a smile._

 _Beckett was about to take the horse outside to the corrals there when she paused as she caught a look out of the entrance. "I don't think we're going to be riding today," she commented to her husband._

 _Castle was slightly surprised before he looked outside and saw that it was almost pouring rain. He smiled and couldn't help saying to her, "Looks like your hope didn't work out."_

 _"No," Beckett said with a smile. "I don't think I'll have the chance to take him out," she told the stable owner._

 _"That's alright, are you heading back out?" Charlie asked, taking over putting the horse back in._

 _"I think so," Beckett replied, looking at her husband._

 _"Do you have any umbrellas?" Charlie asked them._

 _"They're in the car," Castle said, looking at his wife._

 _"Here," Charlie said, going over to a cabinet towards the entrance to the stables. He took out an umbrella and handed it over to Castle saying, "Just bring it back next time."_

 _"Thank you," Castle told him, his wife echoing him. He then led the way outside to the car saying, "We need to try and come back when it's not raining."_

 _"We will," Beckett said with a smile before she was getting inside the car as he held the umbrella over her head._

 _After he was in the driver's seat Castle said, "We should bring the girls next time too."_

 _Beckett merely nodded as he was looking at her and she reached over, taking his hand to squeeze it tightly while he drove through the rain._

 _Inside their home the two made their way up to their bedroom where they fell into bed together, kissing hungrily before they made love feverishly. When they'd finally stopped they were breathing hard, pressing close to each other until Castle laid on his back and held her to him._

 _"Don't ask me to do this after every game," Beckett finally had the strength to say._

 _"I won't… how about if I win?" Castle asked her with a wide smile. He laughed when she pinched his side a little hard and he told her, "Maybe not."_

 _"No, if we're alone we'll see how we feel," Beckett told him as she turned onto her stomach._

 _Reaching up to rub his hand up and down her back Castle said, "I love you."_

 _"I love you too," Beckett replied before she leaned down to him to meet him. They were soon kissing so deeply there was no surprise to her when they were moving to make love again, her excitement at the thought taking everything over before he was within her again._

* * *

"Another one," Julia said happily, clapping loudly with her sister and Martha as her father had scored. "Think they're gonna win?"

"They might if they play like they are now," Castle's mother said. She then watched with the girls as Beckett stood up on the fence again and kissed her son. When he murmured something to her she couldn't help look over at Meredith, startled to see the woman's face stoic. But as she watched she spotted the slight tic at the left side of the woman's lips. "Ah," she murmured before looking back to the game.

"Gram, how much more?" Eliza asked.

"Fifteen minutes darling, do you want some water?" Martha asked her.

"No thank you," Eliza replied before she heard a whistle and looked out to see it was the ref. "What happened?"

"There was a foul," Julia said as she'd been watching while they were talking.

"Which team?" Martha asked.

"Daddy's," Julia replied.

Watching her husband riding with the ball after they were playing again Beckett yelled his name when suddenly the mallet of the team member who had been trying to block him flew up into his face. When the ref blew his whistle, she was more than prepared to climb over the fence so she could run to him when she felt Rebecca holding her back.

"They'll help him," the woman said, not surprised when Beckett nearly glared at her.

Turning her attention back to the field Beckett saw that her friend was right and David was studying Castle, checking on him. When she saw the man giving the thumbs up to the ref; followed by her husband; she breathed out in relief as it looked like he merely had a bloody nose. The game was paused and she ran around to where her husband rode taking the mallet from him before he spoke; beating her to it as she was about to ask him how he was doing.

"I'm alright," Castle replied, his voice a little distorted as a paramedic there at the game was looking at his nose. "It's not broken, is it?"

"No, it just needs to stop bleeding," the man said.

"Can I keep playing?" Castle asked.

"I think so, once you've stopped bleeding," the paramedic replied.

"Alright, I'll call Charlie in," David said. "As soon as you're ready you're coming back in."

"The next chukka," Castle said. When they were left alone he looked at his wife and said, "The girls?"

Glancing back to the stands Beckett saw that Julia was coming down the steps and she said, "I think Martha was holding her back." When she turned back to her husband she saw he was looking at his shirt and she told him, "There's no blood." She looked back to her mother in law and waved to her before Julia was throwing her arms around Castle.

"Are you okay?" the girl was asking.

"I'm fine, my nose looks really weird now but what're you going to do," Castle replied, hugging her to him. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he added, seeing his mother with Eliza walking closer to them.

"Didn't you say it was gonna happen though?" Julia asked.

Before Castle could answer that Eliza was set down by Martha and she was hugging him too though Julia was still holding onto him. "I'm okay," he told the little girl reassuringly. He helped them let him go before he told them, "I'm going to play so I must be okay."

Looking at her big sister Eliza saw that she was nodding so she was quick to do the same herself. But something came to mind and she said, "What if you get hit again Daddy?"

"Girls," Beckett said. "Your daddy's been playing for a long time and he's never gotten hit until now."

"She's right," Martha added. "It's unlikely he'll be hit again."

The family stood together, watching the game, before they could see that the period had come to an end. Castle kissed his daughters and wife before squeezing his mother's arm and getting back onto his horse.

Walking with the girls holding her hands Beckett was going to lead them up to the stands when they both suddenly stopped. "Don't you two want to sit?" she asked them.

"No," Julia said. "We want to watch here with you."

"I'll be fine," Beckett said to her mother in law. Once Martha was going up the stands she looked at the girls and said, "Whenever they come near us-"

"We'll step back," Julia reassured her as they'd seen her doing that at the fence at past games. "Hi Rebecca," she said to the woman as she came down to her with Mari.

"He's alright?" Rebecca asked them with a smile.

"He's fine," Beckett said, looking back to the field as the last chukka began. She watched her husband closely, smiling when he scored again and she climbed up onto the second railing, kissing him a little deeper than she usually did. Before she stepped down she told him, "Score another."

"I'll try," Castle said, touching his helmet before he went back to his team. Though it was a little more difficult he managed one more goal in the last seconds and he rode swiftly to his wife, kissing her first. "Thank you for the inspiration," he said teasingly.

"Finish the game," Beckett told him laughingly before she playfully pushed him away. She stepped down on the fence and watched the rest of the game play before her husband's team began to cheer after the whistle was blown.

"Now what?" Eliza asked when her mother joined them.

"We're going to have lunch," Beckett told them, pointing to the club house a little past the fields. "Since this was the first game of the season for the fields."

"I'm hungry," Julia said, her sister nodding in agreement with her.

"So am I," Mari said.

"We'll eat soon," Beckett said as Rebecca was telling her daughter the same thing. They waited for Martha to join them with Dani and they went over to where the team was getting off their horses. When she could she rushed to her husband, throwing her arms around his neck, kissing him hard though they couldn't really linger.

"I almost thought you were going to forget," Castle commented as his wife would do that at the very end of the game.

"And here I thought you wouldn't say that yet again," Beckett said jokingly. She kissed him gently and then said, "They're hungry."

"I am too, starving," Castle replied as he tucked his gloves he'd taken off into the back pocket of his trousers. He looked ahead of them and saw that his ex was still there, making him open his mouth to speak before she was leaving.

"She never approached me, I guess she was just here to watch," Beckett told him. She wasn't surprised when he merely nodded to that and as they were walking to the clubhouse she said, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Castle said, since his team had won eight to five. "It was a good game. Oh, and thanks for the horses too."

"He's right, you made some great choices," Theo said as they were all walking together.

"You should do that more often," David commented. "Um…"

Looking ahead Castle nearly cursed in Irish as he saw Meredith was standing at the end of the steps up to the building and he said to the others, "I'll meet you inside." He started to walk over to her when he looked to his right and saw that Beckett was there.

"I'm not really sure about letting her be alone with you," she replied to his slightly confused expression.

Castle knew he couldn't really reply and just nodded to her before he walked over to Meredith. "So, you came," he said as Beckett stayed a little away from them.

"I did, you're okay?" Meredith asked him.

"Fine," Castle said quickly. "Are you heading into the city?"

"Oh no," Meredith replied. "I'm going to stay a few days."

"You realize Alexis isn't coming out here right?" Castle asked her, startled at that news.

"And I can't visit with the father of my child?" Meredith responded.

"Look," Castle began before he paused as he could feel Beckett's hand on his arm. He looked at her and then said, "I don't think we're really going to be in a visiting mood. We're working on our book during the week so-"

"I'm going to go around while I'm here," Meredith said simply. "But I'm hoping we can have dinner together."

"Wednesday night we're saying goodbye to Martha as she's going back to the city," Beckett said since Castle was looking at her. "Our friends the Fosters and the Davises will be there too; you might as well join them in coming over."

Castle was startled at his wife suggesting that but he soon realized why she had. With so many at the house two things would happen; either Meredith would decline to come or they'd be surrounded by friends and family and he wouldn't have to be alone with her for any reason. "She's right," he said as he saw his ex was looking at him.

"I…" Meredith began, not really looking all that pleased at the idea. "Alright," she continued, her voice a little firmer than before. "I'll be there."

Watching her go Castle turned to Beckett and said, " _Are you sure?_ "

" _Would she have left you alone that dinner with just the two of you there?_ " Beckett said with a nod. When he frowned and inclined his head once she said, " _It was the only thing I could think of_."

" _At least there'll be a lot of other people around_ ," Castle commented.

Beckett smiled and said, " _I can always keep you close_ ," to his laugh. She wasn't surprised when he kissed her after that, wondering if he'd known that Meredith had turned back to them at his laugh as if she was going to say something. But she soon put the woman out of her mind and focused on their kiss before someone was suddenly wrapping their arms around her.

"Hey," Castle said to the girls as they were hugging them both. "Are we taking too long?"

"Everyone is wondering where you are," Julia told them.

"We better go," Castle said, picking up Eliza. He was about to walk to the building when his wife stopped him. Looking at her he realized what she was telling him and then said, "So, Alexis' mother is going to come to the big dinner on Wednesday."

"Is she leaving after?" Julia asked.

"Probably," Beckett told them. "It's the polite thing to do," she then added. "Since we're the only people she knows here."

"I don't know her," Eliza said.

"Sweetheart," Castle said slightly sternly as the little girl was frowning. "She means me and her a little bit; you don't have to talk with her."

"And it's only for that dinner," Beckett reminded them. They went inside the clubhouse then and went to the dining room where they sat with Martha and the Fosters. "Is Brad here?" she asked, looking around.

"I asked him to eat here," David replied. "He's… somewhere in here, over there," he said, nodding towards a table to his right.

"I thought Hutchinson and Rice would still be patrolling around," Castle commented after they'd ordered, seeing the two officers next to the chief.

"They don't need to," David said. "Since they were here for security during the game. You know when everyone was outside."

Rolling his eyes Castle said, "Who're we playing next year?"

"I still don't understand why you play one game and then wait until after the holidays to continue with the season," Martha said before the mayor could answer.

"They've been doing that for a long time, I have no clue why," David said. "That's just the way the league is. And to answer your question we're playing the Brookhaven team."

Nodding as he thought that over Castle then said, "That shouldn't be too bad, they're fair."

"I had the same thought," David said. He then looked at Beckett and asked, "Will you be there?"

"Just ask if I'm going to pick your horses now," she replied with a smile. "And yes, I will."

"Thank you, that was a big help," David said, hearing Theo and Jason; at the next table; saying the same. He laughed and then said, "I'm also trying to figure out when we should practice next."

"What about after Thanksgiving?" Castle suggested.

At first David was going to protest before he nodded and said, "I guess that would work."

"How long is it until Thanksgiving?" Mari asked.

"Thanks!" Dani called out.

The others at the table laughed before their food was being served and they were quiet as they began to eat before Beckett spoke.

"From today it's eighteen days," she told the kids.

"That's a long time still," Eliza said, looking at Dani as she was speaking.

"I wan… to," the baby said slowly.

"I think she means turkey," Mari translated hesitantly.

"Probably," Julia said with a nod. She looked at the adults who were all eating and she whispered what she had seen outside as she'd already told her best friend about her father's ex-wife.

"But… why did they invite her?" Mari said, realizing she would see the woman better once they were at Julia's house for dinner.

"I think to be nice," Julia whispered, glancing at her parents quickly. "She is 'lexis' mom."

"I thought you don't really like her," Mari whispered back as they leaned their heads towards each other.

"I don't but… Mommy's being nice to her so we probably need to be too," Julia said hesitantly before she became surer of herself. "I just hope she doesn't come back." She appreciated her friend nodding in agreement and she squeezed her arm before they went back to their meal.

"Well," Martha was saying after her son and daughter in law told her about Meredith joining them. "I don't care it's not like I'm hosting the party. And I get the feeling she might be a little out of place there, so there's a bit of pity for her."

"You're thinking she might leave early," Castle told her.

"That's the thought going through my head," Martha replied with a nod. She noticed that David and Rebecca were watching them and she said, "And my hope, I still have difficulties with her though she is Alexis' mother."

"From what we know about her," Rebecca said in a low voice so the kids wouldn't hear them. "It sounds like you two would have clashed a lot."

"That surprises you?" Martha asked.

"No, again from what we've heard about her her personality seems to be opposite of yours in a lot of ways," David said.

"At least they were civil to each other," Castle was quick to add. "Should we tell Brad?"

"We can mention it to him," Beckett said.

"You two are still going to Tahiti?" Rebecca asked when no one spoke for a bit.

"Of course," Castle said, smiling at his wife. "We're leaving on Friday and we'll be back…"

"It'll end up being Tuesday morning," Beckett told him with a smile.

"Then," Castle said.

"Think I could ask you two a favor?" Rebecca said.

"Sure," Beckett replied.

"You know those dresses you got for your girls there?" Rebecca asked.

With a smile Beckett said, "We can grab some for you. Any preference for colors?"

"I like blue," Mari said as she and the other girls were listening to them.

"Whatever looks good for Dani, she doesn't have a favorite color yet," David said.

"We'll pick something up for her too," Castle said. "Are you still going to Florida for Thanksgiving?"

"You're still staying here in the Hamptons?" David responded.

"I don't think we're going to be going back to the city for that," Beckett said. "At least not in the foreseeable future." She then remembered something and asked the couple, "You are going to be here for the competition, right?"

"Oh sure," Rebecca said first.

"We're not leaving until that night," David added, smiling over at Julia who was looking at them in some concern. "We'll be there."

"Mari's first time in a dance competition so of course we want her to be there," Rebecca replied.

"Have you been there before?" Julia asked Mari then as the adults were talking about the flights they would be taking that month.

"To Florida?" Mari asked. When her friend nodded she smiled and said, "A couple times. One time we went to a restaurant and there were alligators outside of it."

"Did they go to see you?" Eliza asked with wide eyes.

Giggling softly Mari shook her head and said, "They just stayed in the water and we didn't go over to them. I didn't want to."

"Neither would I," Julia said with a nod. "So, you're gonna have a dress now like we do."

"But you can't wear yours anymore," Mari told her since she knew her friend had outgrown hers from the year before.

"Maybe they'll get me another one," Julia said before looking at her parents and seeing they were watching her.

"You may," Beckett said with a smile. She watched as the workers were clearing the tables and glanced over at Brad, seeing that Hutchinson was talking to him seriously before handing him something.

"What is it?" Castle asked his wife, watching her.

"I don't know," Beckett told him honestly. She frowned slightly and then said, "Maybe there was something during the game, I never saw Hutchinson and Rice." She paused and then said slowly, "I was watching you."

"Thank you," Castle said quickly. "We can ask Brad after," he added as they watched the two officers then leaving, guessing they were going out on patrol.

Looking at the plate in front of her Beckett said to the girls, "Take it easy with this you two," as there was an apple tart on it.

"Good for this time of year," Castle commented as they began to eat.

"I was half expecting a pumpkin pie," David said.

"That reminds me," Rebecca said, "You don't want us to host the Christmas party at our place?"

"We talked about this already," Castle said first.

"And we're fine with hosting it ourselves," Beckett said. "After all we'll have more of our friends from the city than you guys here in the Hamptons."

"Then let us at least help you like at the Halloween parties," David said.

Castle was going to protest; knowing his wife was going to do the same; when he paused. "They seem to want to," he said with a smile at her.

"I know," Beckett replied with a smile. She took a deep breath and then said, "Okay but I don't think we'll need too much help."

"Whatever we can do," Rebecca said, her husband nodding.

After they'd eaten dessert the dining room was cleared out and Castle and Beckett said goodbye to their daughters.

"Will you come right home?" Julia asked as she and her sister were hugging their mother at the same time.

"We will, we don't really need to go anywhere," Beckett replied. "We're just going to help them get the horses set."

"Good," Eliza said as they let her go. "But what do we do now?"

"Whatever your gram says it's okay to do," Castle replied as he watched the girls go to his mother as they'd already hugged him goodbye.

"We'll be back soon," Beckett told her mother in law.

"Have fun," Martha said before she took the girls by the hand so they could leave.

"Ready?" Castle asked his wife as he turned his head to her. He wasn't surprised when she was already walking away and he smiled before jogging after her to follow her where the horses were begin led to trailers by Charlie and some other workers from the stables.

"Are you here to help us?" the stable owner called to the two.

"It looks like you might need it," Castle said.

"Grab a horse and take them wherever," Charlie said. "They won't mind."

"Will they?" Castle asked his wife.

Shaking her head Beckett went over to a Thoroughbred and led it by its reins to one of the trailers, her husband following her. When it shied at the entrance she reached up and gently patted its neck, speaking in Irish to it until it was going into the trailer. "Don't let him do that," Beckett told her husband quickly when she spotted that he was having trouble with the horse he was leading.

"Want to help?" Castle asked her.

"No," Beckett said simply. She smiled when he glared at her, knowing it wasn't a serious look, and then watched him eventually get the horse into the trailer.

"I think you should just take care of this," Castle told her.

"I'll pass," Beckett said easily. She smiled when he took her hand as they walked back to the horses that were left. She began to lead the horses she grabbed to the trailers and when they were finished she breathed out and said to her husband, "Tired?"

"Yeah but then again, we don't do this every day," Castle replied. "Just ours."

Beckett nodded before she went over with him to Charlie and said, "Do you need any help back at the stables?"

"We'll be alright," Charlie replied. "Thanks for your help; we got them ready to go much faster."

Saying goodbye to the man Castle watched the trucks towing the trailers before he turned to his wife and said, "Are we heading out?"

"I'll follow you," Beckett said with a smile.

With a nod Castle walked with her over to the changing rooms and he said, "You won't mind waiting."

"No," Beckett said, holding onto his hand. She smiled when he looked at her as they came to a stop and she tugged on his hand slightly to pull him to her before their lips met. She wrapped her arms around his neck as it was instantly deep and they held on tightly to each other before they were slowly parting. "I needed that," she said with a smile.

"I agree, I did too," Castle replied. "Okay," he breathed out. "I'll be right out and then we'll… go home."

"We will," Beckett said, squeezing his hand tightly.

Castle leaned his head slightly to give her a quicker kiss before he heard someone yelling for himself and his wife. "David?" he asked in surprise as the man ran out.

"You two need to come in," he said. "A body just fell out of a closet."

Sharing a look with her husband Beckett ran with him after David into the room where they were led around some of the lockers. She nearly froze as she was first to see the body and she said, "Did any of you touch it?"

"No," Jason said first, looking pale. "But he's dead."

"We can tell," Castle said grimly. He heard a gasp from his wife and he asked, "What is it?"

"We know her-" Beckett began.

"Her?" Theo interrupted. "We thought this was a guy."

"No, it's a woman," Castle replied as he'd seen what she had.

"You better get Brad," Beckett directed to David. "Tell him Eileen's been murdered."


	8. Leave My Message

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: It was great getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so will go right to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (It was nice that you liked the build up to the game, lol, I wanted a little bit of time before that started. And great you liked too that Beckett, Martha and the girls were behind Castle as he played, couldn't see them not being supportive of course. I was glad you liked that I brought Martha in during the chapter and that you thought it was interesting too which of course I wanted it to be! I was pleased seeing you thought there was good writing in the chapter. And great you thought I kept it real when Castle got hit and his family was concerned, I definitely had to make them that way since of course they all love each other and wouldn't want to see each other get hurt but I am happy you liked that and mentioned it too!) and  
vetgirlmx (It was great to see of course that you thought it was a very nice chapter. I did laugh when you mentioned Castle in a polo uniform since I remember you mentioning that before, lol, so I'll guess that was part of why it was very nice. And I actually got the name Blanket from a book I have, it was the same type of horse- it took place in the 1870s- and I liked it because it refers to the pattern on the horse's back. And I'm not surprised you caught that it was weird having Meredith there for all of them after the encounter they had with her the day before. And I was really pleased to see you enjoyed that Meredith started getting a twitch when she saw Castle and Beckett kissing after the goals. I wasn't surprised that you were glad Martha saw that since you said you think she probably has some insight about that. Also not surprised you don't want to try to guess about why she's there and are thinking it's probably nothing good as you said. I'm very glad you liked the game and the flashback too. You're right as I have mostly mentioned the games but never really mentioned them, so pleased to read that you thought it was really nice. Also not surprised that you thought it was too bad they had to discover a body while they were still there at the polo fields, plus it being worse that it was someone they knew. Not a surprise you mentioned the girls getting out of there before the body was found, I figured readers would think that. And you made a good point about the polo fields being a good place for the killer to murder the vic at that place since it was crowded and people had the game to watch. And not surprised you're thinking you and the other readers will see but I am very happy that you can't wait to do that and now you don't need to wait to see anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Beware My Love_ by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Wings album Wings at the _Speed of Sound_.

Leave My Message

"You two have great luck," Brad said as he was looking down at the body. He sighed and asked, "What do you think?"

"An injection," Castle commented. "We took a closer look and we can see the bruising that's forming on her neck."

"During the game," Brad said.

"What?" Beckett said, looking at him.

"She was killed during the game," Brad replied.

"How would you know?" Castle said slowly, looking at his friend, startled.

"This," Brad said as he held up a piece of paper. "Was about to look at it when David came to get me so I have no idea what's on it."

"And it's from Eileen?" Beckett asked after she and her husband had shared a look.

Before the chief could reply the ME was entering and Thayer said, "Oh, you two. What've you got?"

"She was killed by an injection," Beckett said.

"I can see that," Thayer replied after putting on a pair of glasses. "Yes, it is," he murmured. "Well I may have to keep looking to see if this is it but it's a strong likelihood," he directed to the chief. "Is everything in this room as it was when you found the body?"

"We didn't find her," Theo said, at the entrance.

"She fell out of the closet there," David added.

"She just fell out?" Brad asked.

"The door was slightly open and she eventually just fell out," Jason said.

"And you guys didn't think the open door was strange?" Brad asked them.

"No, the janitor has left it open before," Castle answered before the other members of his team could say anything. "Not fully open but enough to notice it."

"For a few seconds," Jason added.

"Did any of you walk by it?" Beckett asked the three men.

"I did," Theo answered.

"And how long after that did the body fall out?" Brad said.

"Not that long… half a minute," Theo said, looking at his two other teammates.

"Around that," Jason confirmed.

"Okay," Brad said. "You three will need to speak to my officers about the time from when you entered this building to the point that the body fell out. Castle, Beckett?"

Going outside with the others Beckett murmured, as they waited for Brad to get things set with the other men, "Are we investigating?"

"I think we should," Castle said, looking at her. He then said, "Did you not want to?"

"No, I do. I just wish this hadn't happened on a Sunday," Beckett replied.

"Well," Castle said slowly. "If we're asked I need to take a shower and change." He then gestured to the building and said, "And I can't really do that here."

"It would give Thayer time for the autopsy," Beckett said. "And CSU to go through the place. But we do need to look at that note at least before we go."

With a nod Castle watched as Brad walked up to them and he asked immediately, "Are we in or going home?"

"In, David let me know you were teammates with her Kate," the chief replied.

"Former," Beckett said. "But we did keep in touch with her and her wife," she added.

"Okay, you should know it is up to you," Brad said.

"We'll help out," Beckett said, knowing her husband was looking at her to answer. "We'd like to know who the killer is as well."

"So what about the note?" Castle asked.

"Hutchinson gave me this during lunch," Brad said, holding up the paper once he'd fished it out of his coat pocket. "She said our vic gave her it while the game was still going on… actually during half time close to the field."

"You described her?" Beckett asked.

"I did, she knew she was a woman though," Brad said slowly.

"She saw her so… instinct?" Castle said.

"She wouldn't know Eileen," Brad stated.

"Not as far as we know," Beckett said.

"Now you might want to open that note," Castle told his friend.

With a nod Brad unfolded the paper before he paused and then looked at the man saying, "You-"

"I'm guessing," Castle replied, motioning for him to continue.

Brad finished opening up the paper and he said, "You're right. And it's for you."

Beckett looked at him in surprise but took the note before she read it out loud, " _Red Pier Lane, 2010, Report 614677_."

"What does that mean?" Castle asked, reading over her shoulder and seeing the victim had written his wife's name at the top.

"I have no idea," Brad said. "But the first part is a street name of course and one we've heard of."

"I know," Beckett said, nodding. "This isn't a report though, not a police report anyways."

"The number looks right," Castle said.

"We'll look into it, let me take that," Brad told him after getting a bag and tucking the note into it. "I'm heading back to the station but you need to head home Rick."

"I don't smell that bad," Castle said before he sniffed at his shirt jokingly.

"No but I can guess as I know you do that after your games," Brad replied. "So go and I'll see you down at the station."

Thanking him Castle took his wife's hand and squeezed it before they went together over to the car in the parking lot. He drove them home quickly before they were pulling into the garage. He wasn't surprised when the door to the house opened and the girls soon after appeared with his mother behind them. "I guess we better tell them," he said.

"I think so," Beckett replied with a smile before they got out of the car at the same time to speak to their family.

"You have a case," Julia said as soon as her parents had closed the doors. When they froze she smiled and said, "I just knew."

"Well, you're right," Beckett said, glancing at her husband.

"How come you came home?" Eliza asked as they walked into the house.

"Because I need to take a shower and change into clothes," Castle said before he paused mid-step and turned to his wife.

"Was that where the victim was?" Julia asked, looking between her parents.

"Yeah it was," Castle said, not surprised she was able to guess. "But it doesn't matter. We're going to have to work on it so we'll have to go."

"While I'm waiting for him," Beckett said to the girls. "Why don't we do something?"

"Like what?" Julia asked though she wanted to hear more about her parents' case.

"Why don't you work on one of your kits?" Beckett asked them. "And I can get started on it with you."

"I'll be back," Castle told his wife and he kissed her cheek gently before he left, hurrying upstairs to head to the shower.

"Which one?" Eliza was asking.

"Pick one," Beckett urged them.

"When do you have to go back?" Julia asked her mother.

"Pick something," Beckett urged her.

Nodding Julia went over with her sister to the cabinet next to the one where the games were. She looked around at the different activity kits before she spotted a new box and pointed it out to Eliza saying, "That one?"

Turning her head to look at it the little girl nodded and said, "Yeah, let's get that one."

Julia laughed softly before she picked up the box saying to their mother, "We want to try this one."

"Alright," Beckett said, not surprised that it was one the girl herself had bought the week before. "I don't think you really need me to help you."

"Yes, we do," Julia said first.

"Yeah," Eliza agreed. "Make something with us Mommy."

"Alright," Beckett said before looking for her mother in law. She didn't see her and guessed that Martha had gone to get a drink before she turned her attention to her daughters who were taking the spin art kit out of its box.

"Wow, look at the paints," Eliza breathed. "I'm happy you bought this," she told her sister.

"Me too," Julia replied. "Who goes first?" she asked her mother.

"You, it's your kit," Beckett said.

"Okay," Julia said slowly. "You can go after," she told her sister. At first, she felt a little guilty at being so excited to go first but when Eliza nodded she felt a little better. She then turned to their mother, watching her reading the directions and she said, "Is it gonna be really hard?"

"No," Beckett said, smiling at her. "It's for eight and older so it shouldn't be too hard for you."

"But I'm not eight," Eliza said with a frown. "Or plus."

"That means older," Julia told her.

"It's alright, you won't be doing it on your own," Beckett said. "Okay," she said, folding the instructions. "It's very simple. You put the paper inside the holder and turn it on, once it starts to spin then you can use the paint at different spots. Do you know what colors you want?"

Julia nodded and pulled out a dark blue, dark green, light blue and pale yellow from the collection of paints. "These," she told her mother when she was finished.

"Good choices," Beckett told her. "Let's start this up and then we'll see what you can do."

With a nod Julia watched as the paper in its holder spun rapidly and she picked up the dark blue paint before she then squeezed the paint down onto the paper, her mother warning her not to put too much on it. She was careful and smiled when just enough went around in a circle, looking at her mother and sister.

"What are we doing?" Martha asked as she came into the room.

"We're making art spin," Eliza said first.

"Really?" Martha asked, sitting with them.

"It is," Beckett said. "Julia bought this last week."

"With my own money," the girl said, smiling up at the quickly.

"Wonderful, let's see what you made," Martha replied as she sat on the couch.

"I have one more Gram," Julia said. She squeezed the last color; the yellow; very carefully in the middle and let the paper spin for a while before she nodded saying, "I'm done."

"Okay," Beckett said, turning off the machine. She let Julia take her artwork out and said with a smile, "It looks beautiful."

"Really?" Julia asked.

"Yeah," Eliza said. "Those are the prettiest colors ever."

"Thanks," Julia said, hugging her sister with one arm. "Pick your colors now."

Eliza nodded and then began to get her colors, using the same pale blue her sister had before she picked out a green and then a pink before she nodded to her mother.

"Are you ready?" Beckett asked her.

"Can you help me Mommy?" Eliza said. "For the first one?"

"Okay," Beckett replied with a nod before she held her daughter's hand with the bottle in it. She guided her hand then before she helped her squeeze, guiding her there too. "Good?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Eliza nodded before she then began to use the other paints on her own.

"You guys found something to do?" Castle asked as he walked in.

"They're making art," Martha told her son.

"Are you ready?" Beckett asked him.

"We don't need to leave just yet," Castle replied as he went to sit next to her. "Have you heard from Brad at all?"

Beckett shook her head and then turned her attention to their youngest as she was saying that she had finished. "Very nice," she said with a smile after she'd helped Eliza take the picture out.

"What do you think Daddy?" the little girl asked with a smile.

"I think it looks great," Castle told her, nodding his head seriously. "Did you make one?" he directed to Julia.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile, showing her picture to her father.

"This one is great too," Castle said. "I like the colors you picked out."

"Me too," Julia said with a nod. She heard her father's phone ringing with the sound of a text and she said, "I think you need to go now."

"Me too," Castle said as he got it out of his pocket. "It's Brad, we better go love."

"Alright, have fun with your gram, we'll see you as soon as we get home," Beckett said, leaning over to hug Eliza.

"Are you gonna be late?" the little girl asked.

"We'll try not to be," Castle said as he hugged her then. "I'll let you know when we're on our way back," he directed to his mother.

"Alright, be careful," Martha said.

"We will," Castle said before he embraced Julia after his wife had done so.

Watching them go the girl then looked at her grandmother and sister before she said, "Can I go outside?"

"Don't you want to make more art?" Martha asked. "I believe your sister does."

"No, I want to go outside," Julia replied.

"I want to do more," Eliza protested.

"I can go out by myself," Julia said.

"Will you stay on the grass?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, I will," Julia promised. "And I'll take Macca with me."

"Take Rita as well," Martha said. "Come back in at three unless I call you in first." When her granddaughter nodded and then left she watched her go before Eliza was tugging her sleeve. "What is it kiddo?" she asked.

"Is Jules kay?" Eliza asked.

"She's fine, I think she wanted to help your parents with their case," Martha said. She then quickly distracted the little girl, helping her in getting some more paint colors to use for another picture.

Outside in the back Julia watched the dogs race ahead of her, keeping her eye on them in case they were going to try and go down to the water. But they soon stopped and made their way back to her. She sat at the edge of the grass and when they did the same on either side of her she smiled and said, "You wanted to go too huh?" She laughed softly when Macca licked at her cheek and she hugged him before she felt Rita's paws on her legs and she turned to her. "I didn't forget you," she told the dog, hugging it tightly. When she'd sat up straight she said, "I guess I shouldn't complain, I can play now."

Startled when Macca began to bark Julia looked down to the beach before she saw her friend there. "Mari?" she said as she walked up to her.

"Hi, I was gonna ask you to come over," Mari replied with a smile. "Are your parents inside?"

"Nope; they had a case," Julia said after shaking her head. She frowned before saying, "Is your dad back home?"

"No but Mommy said… oh, I think that's why he's not home yet," Mari started to say before she then realized why.

"Maybe," Julia said. "Let me go ask my gram if I can go over there."

"You still want to?" Mari asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Julia said before she stopped suddenly. They both looked up at the sky and cried out as it began to rain. "Come on!" she cried, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling her up to the stairs.

"Oh, hello Mari," Martha said when she opened the door for the girls and dogs. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I came to ask Julia over to play a little bit," Mari said with a smile.

"Well I'm sure you want to go," Martha said, looking at her granddaughter who was then nodding her head rapidly. "And I think your parents would be fine with it but you two need an umbrella. And no coat Mari?"

Smiling a little sheepishly the little girl said, "I told my mom that I could go really fast."

"I would guess she wasn't too happy, come on and we'll let you borrow one of Julia's," Martha said, leading the three girls over to the foyer. "Here you are," she said, handing the little girl a coat. "And you as well Julia, here's the umbrella."

Once they were ready Julia took the umbrella and went out onto the porch before she said, "What time do I need to come home?"

"I'll call you," Martha said. "You have your phone, right?"

"Yep," Julia said simply, showing it to her. "Have fun Lizzy."

"I am," Eliza said, waving her paint stained hand. "I'm gonna make sharks with Gram now."

"We'll be coloring her shark ornaments," Martha explained slightly laughingly to the girls who looked confused.

"Oh, have fun," Julia said, waving to her little sister and stepping out onto the gravel with her arm around Mari so they could stick together under the umbrella. They walked out and then to the Foster home where her friend knocked on the door.

"Marianne… oh you have Julia," Rebecca started to say when she saw her daughter and then Julia. "Did you get wet?"

"No, we ran inside before it was raining too hard," Julia said first.

"At least you had an umbrella to come here," Rebecca commented.

"Is Daddy back yet?" Mari asked hopefully.

"Not yet, he texted me that he needed to go into his office-" Rebecca began as she was helping them with their coats.

"No, he's doing something with Rick and Kate's case," Mari interrupted her. When her mother looked at her in surprise she said, "Julia told me."

"Oh… well he was…" Rebecca tried to say.

"I think I know," Julia commented, not surprised when the two looked at her. "He found the body?"

"I… sort… of," Rebecca said slowly.

"So is he working on the case now?" Mari asked her mother.

"No, he just needs to give a statement and then as mayor tell Brad it's okay for your parents to be there Julia," Rebecca told them.

"We'll be in my room Mommy," Mari then said, taking her friend's hand. They rushed upstairs and once they were on her bed she asked, "What was my mom talking about?"

"I don't know… maybe they were surprised by the body," Julia said slowly.

"What is it?" Mari asked, trying not to get frustrated by how slow she was talking then; as her mother had done.

"I've been into where you change on the girls' side," Julia explained. "There's a closet where they keep the stuff to clean up everything so maybe it was there and it fell out. Or it was in the attic and fell out."

"I don't think it has an attic," Mari told her.

"Then something like that," Julia said, shrugging. She lay back on the bed and said, "I was gonna ask to go help."

"You know your parents wouldn't let you," Mari said. "And would you want to do that?"

Julia made a face before she sighed and then told her, "I guess not but I wish they wouldn't get a case on a Sunday."

"Aren't they going to be gone next Sunday?" Mari asked.

"That's different, that's my mom's birthday," Julia said, sitting up to look at her. She then smiled and said, "At least our dads got to play their game without them getting the case."  
"I know," Mari said with a nod. "My dad wouldn't have been happy if they had to stop." She looked around her room before she asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Let's play a game on your computer," Julia suggested.

"Okay," Mari said, getting up with her. "Which one?"

"Which ones do you have?" Julia asked as they were soon both sitting down.

"I have this one that's new, you have to build different places and do different stuff," Mari answered.

There was a knock on the door and Julia looked over with her friend as Rebecca stuck her head inside.

"Is Daddy back?" Mari asked hopefully.

"He is," Rebecca said with a smile. "But he's taking a shower right now so he'll come to see you."

After Mari nodded she turned to Julia and said, "Maybe we should do something else."

"You don't want me to go home? That way you can be with your daddy," Julia suggested.

"That's okay, I'll see my daddy after," Mari said. "Well, do anything with him."

"Okay, what do you want to do?" Julia asked. "We can practice you know."

"We already did that," Mari said, laughing a little. "We're gonna do that tomorrow anyways."

Nodding Julia watched her friend go over to her closet to look at the games she had, remembering the last time she had been with her partner and friend to practice their trio dance outside of class which had been two days before at her home.

* * *

 _"Do you three need music?" Beckett asked her daughter as she sat down on a chair in the parlor._

 _"Do you think we should try first without it?" Peter was asking the two._

 _"Maybe… why don't we start and if we can't then we can just use music," Julia suggested to them._

 _Watching the three nodding at each other Beckett smiled at her husband and then looked on as they began to dance. But she wasn't too surprised when they quickly stopped and then looked at one another. "You need the music?" she asked them with another smile._

 _"I think so," Mari said._

 _"Okay, ready?" Castle asked as he was using his phone._

 _When the three nodded and the song was beginning Beckett watched them starting their dance with the two girls dancing together first. When Peter stepped in she was impressed they could work together well before Mari slipped a little._

 _"Ugh, I can never get that!" the girl said with a sigh._

 _"Maybe don't go so fast," Peter suggested._

 _"Should we try it again?" Mari asked them._

 _"Why don't you try those steps on their own?" Julia suggested. "That way you can work on them. And I'll do the steps with you," she added in case her friend would be too embarrassed to do that on her own._

 _"Do you need the music for it?" Castle asked them._

 _"No, better if we just do the steps," Julia said, standing next to Mari. She saw that her partner was standing with them and she said, "Are you gonna do it too?"_

 _"Better if I do that," Peter replied_

 _With a nod Julia counted the steps like their teacher did and they began to move. They tried it slowly all together at first before they were stopping and she said, "Faster?"_

 _"You mean normal?" Peter said._

 _Mari laughed and said, "I'm ready."_

 _"Okay," Julia said before counting once more. They moved at the same speed they would need to during the actual dance. She kept an eye on her friend before they stopped and she said, "Better, just remember don't run in the dance."_

 _Mari laughed softly and said, "Okay, let's try that again so I have it right!"_

 _With that the three got back to where they would need to stand before they began to practice the dance from the top once more._

* * *

"I don't know if I see any game I want to play," Mari said, not realizing she was interrupting her friend's reminiscing. She looked over her games once more and not seeing anything she paused as an idea came to her.

"What?" Julia asked as her friend turned to look at her.

"Why don't we write?" Mari asked.

"Write?" Julia said, startled. She then said, "Write what?"

"You said you had an idea for two ladies to look at cases," Mari said. "We should write what your parents' is gonna be like but for those two ladies."

Julia was going to protest at first before she said, "You really want to do that?"

"Yeah don't you?" Mari asked.

"Okay then we should get some paper and pencils," Julia said. "Mari?" she asked while she watched her friend doing that.

"What?" Mari said, looking back at her.

"I don't know if anything's gonna happen with what we write though," Julia told her.

"That's okay, this is for fun," Mari replied.

Julia smiled and then said; as her friend brought over her lap desk to the bed; "Maybe I should write."

"Oh… maybe you should," Mari said after she paused. "You have much better writing."

Nodding her head once she had the pencil in hand Julia said, "What should we start with though?"

"Um… what do you think?" Mari said after thinking about that for a moment.

Julia tried not to giggle before she said, "Let's write when they're talking about a person they think did it."

"How are you gonna write that?" Mari asked.

"They just guess," Julia said. When her friend looked at her in confusion she explained, "I've heard my parents before."

"Okay, what are their names?" Mari said interestedly.

"I keep changing them, I don't know for sure," Julia said.

"How about… Rose and May?" Mari suggested.

"Those are the names of people we know," Julia protested.

"Then keep Rose but call the other lady… Evelyn," Mari said.

"Okay," Julia said with a nod. She then began to write and said, "Do you want me to say what I'm writing?"

"No that's okay," Mari said before she realized her friend had stopped writing. "What now?"

"Aren't you supposed to write with me?" Julia asked her.

"I don't know if I can," Mari admitted. When her friend looked her in confusion she then said, "I just wanted to see you write."

"Oh," Julia said. "It's nothing special."

"But I still want to see," Mari assured her earnestly.

"Okay," Julia said before she thought for a moment. After doing so she then began to write on the piece of paper that she had in front of her again and kept going for a little more until she stopped.

"That's it?" Mari asked, surprised.

"Yeah, not much I can put since I only know from when my parents talk at home," Julia replied. "Okay, here it is," she said as she held the paper up. " _'If they were going to hurt someone maybe they should have used a better weapon,' Rose said. 'But if they did then maybe there wouldn't be a case,' Evelyn said. The two looked at their murder board together before they shook their heads and sat at their desks across from one another to look at the name they had._ " She sighed and then said, "It doesn't sound right."

"Well you are only ten and you don't work with the police," Mari said reassuringly. "I think it was good what you had there."

"Thanks," Julia said. "Why don't we play a game now?"

"Yes," Mari said with a smile at her before they then turned their attention to the games that she had there in the room.

The two were playing Mastermind when there was a knock on the door and they turned to it to find it was David that time.

"Hey, you two," the man said, smiling as his daughter rushed to him. He embraced her and said, "Hey Julia."

"Hi, did you see my parents at the station?" Julia asked.

"I did, I got a text from Rebecca that you were here and they don't mind," David replied.

"Thanks," Julia replied. She then smiled a little and said, "You're not working on the case."  
Since his wife had also told him about Julia's guess David soon said, "No, I'm not really all that qualified to do that. That's what your parents are for."

"Are they okay?" Julia couldn't help asking.

"Oh, they're fine," David assured her. "Just getting started on the case when I left them."

"When are they going to finish?" Mari asked.

"I have no idea," David replied, shaking his head. "It depends on what happens while they're working on it. So, what're you two doing?"

"Playing Mastermind," Mari said first. "Wanna play?"

"Why don't we go down and play with your mom? She's all alone with Dani," David told her.

"That sounds good to me," Julia said with a smile as Mari turned to her. She followed them when they went downstairs, not realizing that her friend had grabbed the piece of paper she had written on until the game was on the coffee table there. "Mari," she said in protest when she saw it.

"What's what?" Rebecca asked.

"Julia wrote a little bit," Mari told her parents, handing it to her mother.

"Interesting," David said, reading over his wife's shoulder. "You should show that to your parents."

"They've seen my writing before," Julia replied with a smile.

"They'll want to see this too I'm sure," Rebecca replied. "Alright, let's go ahead and play before we lose any more time."

The girls laughed and together they began to hurry to get ready to play the next game.

"Alright, I am amazingly good at this game," David said once the board was ready. "So, I should let you all play first."

"Daddy," Mari said simply.

"We're not buying it Dave," Rebecca said to her husband with a smile. "Do you mind if they play together first?" she asked Julia.

"No," the girl said with a smile. "And then whoever wins plays the one who wins between us."

"Great idea," David said. "Let's get started." He took the pegs once his daughter had chosen the four he had to guess and he placed a blue peg, then a green, a red and a yellow. "Hmm," he said when Mari left all the pegs where they were. He then set down white, black, orange and green pegs before he watched her bring the white ahead. "Okay, now we're getting started," he said, playfully rubbing his hands together.

Watching them Julia smiled when eventually David was able to get the right combination in six guesses. Mari, after that, got it in eight and she said, "I think your mom and dad will play."

"You don't know that yet," Rebecca told her with a smile as she was putting down her color combination. But she wasn't surprised when in the end Julia was right and she said, "You did a good job still."

"Play Mommy, Daddy, I want to see!" Mari told them.

"Right now," David said.

The couple began to play, the three girls watching closely to see who would win before it ended up being Rebecca. They teased David; who accepted it good naturedly; and then set the game up once more so Julia and Mari could play as they began to tease each other.


	9. Leave My Message (Part 2)

"Hey, anything on the note?" Beckett asked.

"Believe it or not yes and that's why I called you here," Brad told the two. "Looking into it it's close to a report number on an attempted robbery at a home."

"Any connection to Eileen?" Castle said.

"No idea," Brad said. "Wade's looking at the address more closely but Hutchinson did tell me something she forgot about Eileen." He then explained the man that had been with the vic before she had given the note to his officer. "What do you think?" he asked.

"You do know Eileen is gay," Beckett said as she knew that Brad was thinking of the man as being close.

"I know but she was disguised as a man, in the men's changing room," Brad replied.

"Something else you should know that not many people do; except for her wife," Beckett replied. "She was transgender."

Brad opened his mouth and said, "You mean she wanted-"

"She told us the last time we saw her," Castle said. "She was changing her name to Evander and would go through the process."

"That makes this a possible hate crime," Brad breathed out heavily as he sat back down at the table in the break room where he'd brought the two.

"Possible, you might want to wait and see if it is before you call the FBI," Beckett replied. "That being said, it doesn't really explain why she was there."

"Maybe it does," Castle replied. "Maybe she was trying to see me."

"I don't know," Brad said. "The note was written for you."

"And yet she never approached me," Beckett said as he was looking at her. "There's only a note."

"Okay, we need to get to the murder board and keep this all straight," Brad said, standing up again. He led the way over to his office where the board already had the preliminary information from the case. Once he'd written what he had so far, he turned to the two and said, "The names on the report and the timing of it predate the vic being here."

"We're aware," Castle said first.

"We know Eileen didn't come here until 2012," Beckett said. "But that might mean her killer was here then."

"Okay now the vic herself; her wife; what do you know about their relationship?" Brad asked the two.

"It was good; of course we only saw them out never really at their home," Castle replied.

"And you never heard from anyone else about them? Anything negative?" Brad then said.

"No," Beckett answered that time. "From what everyone said, they were fine."

"Have you spoken to her wife yet?" Castle asked.

"No but Ms. Yearling is on her way here," Brad told them. "It's why I asked you here too; to help me out speaking to her. She wasn't at the game, was she?"

"I never saw her," Beckett said when her husband looked at her to answer that. "But then again I wasn't exactly paying attention to everyone who was there."

"Are there security cameras anywhere?" Castle asked his friend.

"A number of them, one on the entrances to the changing rooms," Brad said. "From what CSU told me the men's and women's rooms don't connect."

"Which makes sense," Castle said.

"Who's looking at the footage?" Becket then asked.

"Rice," Brad answered. "And she'll let us know what she finds. But for now, I'd like you two to see the house." He went to his computer and quickly pulled up a picture of it saying, "I didn't want to show you this," when they looked at him.

"What's so special about it?" Castle asked as his wife looked grim.

"That's where I was kidnapped by Dunn," Beckett said, recognizing it quickly. "Anything about this place?"

"Sir?" Wade said to the chief.

"Is that it?" Brad asked. When his officer nodded he took the file the man handed to him and he said, "Okay it used to be a… meth lab."

"I think there's always been meth here," Castle said quickly when the chief looked at them. "Even before we came together that first time. Anyone arrested there?"

"It was abandoned and then found… because of an attempted break in but they never found who did it," Brad read off from the report. "So no names."

"Then you need to look at the owners," Beckett said easily.

"Renters. Which he did and they're fake names," Brad replied.

"Of course," Castle said with a sigh. "I'm wondering… could we go out there and see what there is?"

"Me as well," Beckett said quickly. "I don't mind going there; Dunn is dead you know."

"What about Whitney?" Castle said then.

"We can talk to her first and then go to the home," Brad said. "I'd like CSU to meet us there." He stood and said, "Luckily she's here."

Turning to look out into the bull pen Castle and Beckett saw that he was right, the woman they knew as their friend's wife was walking with Officer Yorke to lead her. When they went into the interview room they looked at the chief, waiting to see what he would say about what he wanted them to do during the interview.

"Do you know her as well?" Brad asked them.

"We do," Castle reassured him.

"He's right so I'm guessing you'll want us to take point on this?" Beckett asked.

"Apparently you more than your husband," Brad commented.

Looking at him Beckett saw then that Castle was pointing to her and she sighed before saying, "He's right, since I did play on the all female team with Eileen."

"For how long?" Brad then asked.

"Two seasons," Beckett said. "She stopped when she and Whitney got married."

"Would her wife go to her games?" Brad said.

"She did, which is how we knew her," Beckett said. "We'd have lunch after the games and talk then."

"So now you can see why you're the one who's going to be talking to her mainly," Brad said.

"Alright, let's go," Beckett said before they walked out to the room.

"Ms. Yearling," Brad said, inside first. "I'm Chief Davis and this is Kate Beckett and Richard Castle who I've been told you know."

"Hello," the woman murmured softly, looking at the two as they sat on the couch across from her.

"We were so sorry to hear about what happened," Beckett said, hesitating on the word hear as they'd been there after the vic had been found.

"Yes," Yearling whispered. "I'm… you're…" she tried to say. "I don't know what to say…"

"It's alright," Brad said. "We have you here to speak with you about your wife. What can you tell us about her?"

"She was a wonderful woman," Yearling said, her chin wobbling. Before she could stop herself, she began to cry, whispering an apology before the chief was handing her a tissue. "Thank you," she said softly as she tried to stop, drying her eyes.

Waiting for the woman to calm down Beckett then said, "We hadn't seen you for a while, how was Eileen doing?"

"She was good, she was happy… we both were," Yearling said. She looked at the two and said, "We were going to announce this but we're… I'm pregnant." And there she burst into tears before she felt someone sitting next to her. "We finally were," she told Beckett. She looked at the chief and as he handed her another tissue told him, "Eileen and I have been trying to have a baby for a long time and this time it took."

"Congratulations but I'm so sorry at the same time," Brad said. "So, she was happy."

"She was ecstatic and ready for our baby," Yearling replied. "We both were."

"Then did you notice anything lately wrong with her at all?" Brad asked.

"She was a little… quiet lately," Yearling told them, thinking that over as she spoke. "I tried to ask her what was wrong but she passed it off as just a story that she was writing."

Glancing at Brad, who nodded to show he was aware their vic had been an op-ed writer at the _Report_ , Beckett said to the woman, "Do you know what she was writing last?"

"When I heard that she was dead I talked to her supervisor, Alan Lineman, and he said she was in between articles now," Yearling replied.

"I hate to ask this," Beckett said, knowing that she was going to have to be the one to ask. "But do you think your wife could have been seeing anyone?"

"I had that thought when I got the call about Ellie," Yearling said. "But when they told me where she was I realized that it was something else. She didn't act like she was trying to hide something," she then said earnestly to the three watching her. "She went into work, would stop at places she told me about later and was never gone so long I wondered where she was." She dried her eyes and said firmly, "She was faithful and I know she loved me."

"How did you feel about her becoming Evander?" Brad said. When the woman just looked at him he said simply, "I don't care about that, I have to ask for the investigation."

"She was… she never did feel right as a woman," Yearling replied. "And she shared that with me and I really didn't care, I supported her. But we weren't sure about the procedure now with the baby."

"How far along are you?" Castle asked.

"Two and a half months, I found out a month and a half ago," Yearling said. "She did want this baby but we realized we would need to save our money for it. So, we had to put the plans on the back burner."

"Did anyone ever say anything to you? Negative or…?" Brad began to say.

"Only our friends knew and they weren't really going around telling the whole town about it," Yearling replied. "So, we never got any comments that were hateful."

"Is there anyone that would have an issue with your wife; not because of her plans but because they disliked her?" Brad asked.

"There's only her ex," Yearling said after thinking that for a moment.

"Ex girlfriend?" Castle said.

"No, ex fiancé," Yearling replied. When the three looked at her, startled, she said, "About fifteen years ago they were going to get married when Ellie called things off."

"And did she tell you how he felt about that?" Beckett said first.

"According to her he was a little angry at first but she came out to him and he accepted it as he realized their marriage would have been a lie," Yearling said. "He lives here in the Hamptons his name is Robbie Cora."

"He owns the nursery out on the edge of the city," Castle said.

"That's him, he was able to move on he is married now and they have a son," Yearling replied.

"Okay, thank you for speaking to us," Brad said to finish up the interview. He stood and shook the woman's hand saying, "We'll be in touch."

"Thank you," Yearling said. She turned to Beckett and embraced her tightly saying, "Please find who did this."

"We will, don't worry," Beckett assured her before she let her go. She remained with her husband as Brad escorted Yearling and said, "I think we need to check on him."

"Right behind you," Castle said before they were walking to the chief's office.

Sitting at Brad's computer Beckett typed in the name and said, "Robbie Cora, owner of the Bays Nursery Center. Forty-six and married to Antonia Cora, their son is ten and his name is Robbie Junior."

"Anything else besides that? A record I hope," Brad said as he walked into the office then.

"Not that I'm seeing," Beckett said. "Nothing that would hint at a juvie record." She sighed and then said, "Nothing here."

"Okay," Brad said.

"What're you thinking?" Castle asked. "Are you going to talk to him?"

"Yes," Brad replied. "But first I think we should head out that property to see what we can find."

"We'll follow you," Beckett said.

"How'd you know I'd want to talk to Cora at his nursery?" Brad asked when the two got up.

"It's what I would do if I was heading the investigation," Beckett replied.

Brad nodded and led them out after telling Bernier to back him up at the property.

When they were following the two in the squad car Beckett said to her husband, "What do you think?"

"About her news?" Castle asked. When his wife nodded he said, "I was really happy for them until I recalled that baby won't get to know one of its mothers."

"Maybe," Beckett said then thoughtfully. "Maybe the donor found out about them."

"We'd have to ask where they completed the in vitro," Castle commented. At his wife's nod he then told her, "Are you thinking of the idea that the father wants to be there?"

"In the place of Eileen? Yeah that's what was going through my head," Beckett said with a nod. "But I'd like to pose the idea to Brad once we get there."

"Hopefully he has Whitney's number for that," Castle commented. They were soon pulling up to a decrepit building and he said, "It was here?"

"It was," Beckett said with a sigh as she got out of the car.

"Is there ever going to be a point when they will demolish these?" Bernier asked when they were gathered in front of the home.

"When they allot it in the budget," Beckett answered. When the men all looked at her she said, "I asked David about it and there's some who aren't really that eager to spend the money to do that."

Brad frowned but didn't say anything before he said to Beckett, "You're in charge of him.

"As usual," Beckett said simply. "I'm armed so we'll be careful. We're not going in tactically are we?"

"No, I'm just reminding you to please keep an eye on him," Brad said.

"Let's go now, please," Castle said rolling his eyes as his friend smiled at him.

Leading the way down the path Brad approached the door first, his hand on his gun that was at his waist before he then opened the door. "Hamptons PD," he called out into the house when he pushed it all the way open.

"It's empty," Beckett said from behind Bernier. "You might want to just go in."

"I still have to go by the book," Brad said.

"And it might waste some time," Beckett said.

The chief didn't say anything then and just stepped inside, looking at her as she followed his officer. "What is it?" he asked, seeing Castle behind her looked confused at her comment.

"Did you search much here?" Beckett asked. "After I was taken?"

"Not really," Brad replied. "Because we were more focused on you though we did make a cursory search. Do you think there was something to find for this case back in the past?"

"You've been around my husband too long," Beckett said. When he opened his mouth to speak she continued with, "So have I, though I don't think it was directly applicable to Eileen. It just has to do with the killer."

"But what?" Bernier said, having looked through the entire first floor. "It's clear Chief."

Nodding Brad then said, "Should I call in CSU?"

"I would recommend it," Beckett said simply. "And for us to stay out until they get here."

"You're being cautious," Castle commented.

"That report," Beckett said. "That year, could you talk to anyone who was here then and might know of something that happened here?"

"No, everyone in the station right now is past 2014," Brad said. "Brady was the last one from before then and you know he left in '16."

"Then someone you could call," Castle said.

"Weir, a former officer that lives around Long Beach," Brad replied. "I'll get in touch with the station, tell them that they need to call him and ask him what happened in 2010 here; if there's anything besides what the report said," he said before leaving.

Walking out after him Castle said to his wife, "What're you thinking?"

"There was a report of an attempted break in," Beckett said.

"Then it wasn't for the meth lab," Castle said, watching her.

Looking at him Beckett stopped at the midway point of the path before she said, "What if there was something in there the killer needed, what if it applied to him?"

"I hate to say it but it might be gone by now, nine years ago?" Castle pointed out.

"Chief," Beckett said as Brad walked up to them. "Has this house ever been burglarized again?"

"I had the same thought," he replied. "And no, I checked into it and nothing was ever said by the owner. And the owner herself is clean, she lives in the city but she comes out here to try and rent it."

"Now?" Castle asked, glancing back at the rundown home.

"She still comes to check it though she mentioned she's despairing of it ever being habitable again even if they don't tear it down," Brad answered.

"Then she obviously hasn't talked to you," Castle said. He glanced at his wife and then said to his friend, "I um… I don't know what's going on."

"Beckett?" Brad asked her as she was staring at the house.

"It needs to be torn down," she said suddenly.

"Are you serious?" Brad asked her.

"The walls," Beckett said quickly. "Tearing down the whole place wouldn't really solve anything. Can you call the landlord; ask her when was the last time anything was done to the walls."

With a nod Brad left them before going onto his phone and talked to the landlord on the other end as CSU was pulling up to the curb.

"You think there'd be evidence of tampering inside?" Castle asked his wife once they were alone after the CSU team went in.

"Of course," Beckett replied. "As long as nothing was done to the walls we should be able to see some kind of imperfection."

"Do you think it's connected to the meth lab that used to be here?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Not really. But of course, I could be wrong."

With a quick nod Castle then said, "I can help you look."

"You thought I was going to tell you to stay outside?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"It crossed my mind," Castle replied with a smile before he looked with her to the chief who was walking to them. "Well?"

"They didn't do anything and there's space in the walls upstairs for a secret compartment," Brad answered.

"Couldn't they have just put it on the first floor?" Castle asked.

"No," Brad said. "I asked the same thing too and she said they'd cause significant damage to the walls if they tried it; it'd be noticeable."

"Then we'll take the upstairs," Beckett said.

"I'll go with you," Brad told them. When they nodded he led the way into the house and talked with the leader of the team before he said, "They haven't gone upstairs, but we can go. Just take these."

Putting on the gloves the chief had given them Castle said, "Are we splitting up?"

"You two go off and I'll go on my own," Brad replied. "There are four rooms up here, two bathrooms."

"I would leave the bathrooms last," Castle said.

"I had that in mind," Brad said, nodding his head. "Yell if you find anything."

After they were at the top of the stairs Beckett led her husband into a room on the right and she said, "Work from the opposite side."

Castle turned to where she was pointing and then looked over the wall, staring at it from eye level. He didn't notice anything and once he was meeting up with his wife he said, "Nothing?"

"Nothing, but I think the fact we're in the master bedroom is the reason," Beckett told him.

"Oh, so should we try out the next room?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Beckett said as she went to the hall. "Do you want to do me a favor?"

"I'll look," Castle said before he then began to look at the wall to the side as he'd done before. He was near to the next room when he paused and after a moment to double check said, "Kate?"

Turning to him Beckett rushed to the other side of the hall and pressed her cheek against the wall where her husband had. "There it is," she murmured. "Touch the wall; I want to mark it while you get Brad."

"I'm here," the chief said, stepping into the hall. "What'd you find?"

"Here," Castle said, watching as his wife got out of the way for Brad to look.

"Damn, it's almost imperceptible," the chief said in amazement. "But it's there. Okay, you guys stay here I'll grab… something to see what we have there."

"You don't think it could be a bomb, do you?" Castle asked his wife when they were alone again.

"If you're that concerned then put your ear to it," Beckett replied. When he just looked at her she said, "Move."

"No, I'll do it," Castle said hurriedly when he saw that his wife was serious. He pressed his ear to the wall and after a moment said, "I don't hear anything at all."

"You wouldn't, this place isn't hooked up for electricity or water," Beckett reminded him. "Two?" she asked when she saw the sledgehammers that Brad was holding onto as he walked up to them.

"Two, I'm sorry Kate but-" the chief started to say.

"You'll ask her," Castle told his friend as he took one of the tools.

"Alright," Brad said with a slight nod. He then said, "We'll take turns; start underneath so we don't damage anything."

Nodding Castle waited for Brad to make the first hit before he was following with his own sledgehammer. He watched the chief hit the next time and wasn't surprised when the man stretched his arm. "Let her hit, we're almost through," he told him.

With a nod Brad handed the sledgehammer to Beckett and said, "Sorry."

"Oh no, I understand you wanted to do this since you're the chief," she assured him with a smile. She went over to the cracked section of the wall and once she was sure her husband was out of the way she struck it with her tool. After Castle hit it she had him stop and then pulled the drywall off the hole that had appeared before looking up.

"You might need this," Brad said to her, handing over a flashlight.

Thanking him Beckett used it and said, "There's a shelf here."

"Should we hit the wall directly on it?" Castle asked the two.

"That would be better," Brad told them before he watched the two hit the wall until it soon cracked and crumbled. He joined them in pulling off the drywall before he saw there was a lock box. "I wonder now why they didn't come back to get this," he commented as he pulled it out.

"Is it locked?" Castle asked him.

"No but let's get out of here," Brad told them. "And open it downstairs."

Following the chief to where there was an old table Castle watched with his wife as the chief opened the lid of the box and he said, "I was almost expecting passports."

Glancing at him Brad took out the first paper that was on top before he then realized that it was a photograph. "Surveillance," he commented.

"Of the vic's ex fiancé," Beckett continued when she saw who it was in it. She said, "He's coming here to the house."

"Then he was involved in the meth ring," Castle said.

"No, look at the date here," Brad said, pointing down at the date that was in the corner. "From what the report said the meth lab was likely only as young as 2009. This was five years before."

"But the word likely…" Castle said slowly though he didn't continue that.

"There's a woman here," Beckett said, having picked up the rest of the pictures while the two were talking.

"Ah, an affair," Castle commented when he saw the woman and the ex-fiancé were embracing.

"More papers," Beckett interrupted, showing the ones he'd found.

"Paternity tests… it was an affair," Brad said, reading it over.

"Adoption papers… he had a child with this woman," Castle said once he'd read.

"She was born the year after this picture," Beckett said, figuring that out. "And according to this she could be somewhere on the island."

"But what does a fourteen-year-old have to do with all of this?" Castle said.

"We'd have to try and speak to her father," Brad said simply. "They're looking for him right now."

"When did you tell them to do that?" Castle said.

"About twenty-minutes ago, why?" Brad asked.

"I think we should go," Beckett said. She glanced at Castle and said, "We."

"Alright," Brad replied though he didn't really seem too eager.

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"You think it'd be better if we had him come in," Beckett said.

"You don't," Brad said to that.

"No," Beckett replied. "You don't want to push him too far," she explained. "Have him where he's most comfortable and then question him there."

Thinking that over Brad then said, "Alright, we'll stick with that and go to the nursery. Let me call off the search and then we'll go."

Castle said to his wife, "Are you talking to him?"

"Oh no," Beckett replied before she smiled at him.

Confused for a moment Castle then came to the realization as to what she was talking about before he said, "I see… okay. What'll we need help for?"

"First, we need to see if he's there," Beckett said as they walked down the path to the sidewalk. "And second if he is we'll think of something."

"I'll let you lead," Castle told her.

"No," Beckett replied. "You talk first. But," she said as she turned to him and pressed her hand to his chest to stop him. "No crazy stories alright? Just… something that will last- a perennial." She then noticed that he was looking thoughtful then and she asked, "You have something in mind?"

"I'm thinking of planting herbs," Castle said. "Some of those are perennial."

"Alright but don't get too long winded," Beckett told him. "We need to get him relaxed enough for Brad, not focused on just our conversation."

"Don't worry," Castle told her. "I have a plan."

Beckett wanted to comment but she saw Brad was walking back to them and she wanted to tell him their plan when the chief spoke, interrupting her.

"I got a lead on the girl," Brad said. "As soon as called in her name in they said she's in the juvenile detention jail about ten miles out of town. I need to go there now."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, knowing that he was telling them he would be going on his own. "But do you mind if we go there first?"

"Would that work?" Castle asked before the chief could say anything.

"It can," Beckett said simply. "We don't have to talk to him right away."

"Do I want to know?" Brad asked.

Beckett quickly told him what she and her husband had talked about before she said, "We don't necessarily need to do that though."

"No," Brad replied. "Since I would like him to be inside the building that's at the nursery. I've been there before," he added quickly to the two since they looked surprised.

"Then I guess we'll just wait there for you," Castle said, glancing at his wife.

"I'll give you a call," Brad reassured them.

"Okay," Beckett said when he'd left. She walked with her husband to the car, taking the keys from him and driving to the nursery since they'd been to it a few times before. "Are you serious about the herb garden?"

"Yeah, I figure it would be good for when we cook," Castle said. "And good for the girls too of course."

"Of course," Beckett said. "But you realize we can't get anything right now."

"I do, I'll get everything noted down in my phone," Castle told her. "But we're going to buy from another place."

Giving him a look, Beckett said, "You don't know that he was involved."

"You don't know that he wasn't," Castle retorted.

"Come on," Beckett said with a sigh before they got out together. Walking up to the nursery she followed her husband to the herbs that were there, glancing around to see if Cora was anywhere in sight.

"If this is his nursery," Castle told her after a while, realizing what she was doing. "He might be inside. Look with me as you're not being very convincing."

Beckett wanted to protest but decided it wasn't worth it, watching him looking at a single herb. "What is it?" she asked.

"Mint, this'll be great for teas," Castle replied. He thought of something and said, " _How are you_?

" _I've been waiting for you to say that_ ," Beckett replied. " _And I'm not jealous; you and I both know how long it took them to conceive. I just wish things hadn't turned out the way they had_ …"

" _We'll keep in touch with_ _her right_?" Castle asked, glancing around rapidly as he kept his voice low.

" _And the baby, of course_ ," Beckett replied. She was going to speak; to say she still hadn't seen any sign of Cora or any workers; before she heard her phone ring. "It's Brad," she said as she got it out of her pocket. "It is," she affirmed when she saw the name. "What is it?" she asked as she answered and then put the phone on speaker.

"I just got a call from Ms. Yearling," Brad told the two. "She was moving some of her wife's things and she found an envelope in the nightstand drawer the vic had. There was a note inside that said she; the vic; would be killed."

"Does she recognize the handwriting maybe?" Castle asked.

"She does; it's Cora. I'll be there, do not talk to him," Brad answered simply before finishing firmly and hanging up the phone on his end.


	10. Had Found Another Love

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N#1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Walls_ written by Tom Petty and is from the soundtrack album to the movie _She's the One_ , _I Won't Back Down_ by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne and is from Tom Petty's album _Full Moon Fever_ and _You Don't Know How It Feels_ by Tom Petty and is from his album _Wildflowers_.

A/N #2: I was very happy getting the feedback I did so will have to get to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought it was good writing for everyone in the chapter, I did want to make it that though there was the case. And of course, I was pleased you liked how the kids were so happy, I wanted to show the case wasn't really touching them. Speaking of the case I thought it was interesting when you said that Kate came alive when it came to the case though I'm glad you liked that. Also, nice to see you enjoyed Brad's reaction too!) and  
vetgirlmx (I wasn't surprised seeing your reaction to the threat or warning; you're right there's a thin line between those two. And yeah, thinking an ex is involved is normal in investigation and I'm not surprised you figure he could be with the pictures and attempted break in. But I'm also not surprised you don't think it looks like a hate crime yet. You're also right about the murder by injection being very carefully planned though it wasn't a surprise you're wondering what was in the syringe though it's nice to know you're waiting for the pathology report. And I'm really glad you enjoyed Julia's time with the Fosters, I thought you might 'cause you're right Mari's usually over at Josie's house so I thought to do something a little different with that. So great that you liked the change! I was wondering what readers would think of Julia wanting to really help her parents with the case and it was nice to see your reaction to that and I like that you think she's going to be exactly like them when she grows up. So great you enjoy this chapter a lot and that you want to see what's happening next and now you don't need to wait for that!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them of course and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Deceptively Yours_ by Peter Malick, from The Peter Malick Group album _New York City_ featuring Norah Jones.

Had Found Another Love

"So much for the idea of talking to him at the nursery," Castle commented to his wife as they were waiting in observation.

"After hearing that it wouldn't have worked," Beckett said with a smile, looking at him from the man in the other room.

"Are you waiting for a theory?" Castle asked when he saw her smile. She just looked at him so he breathed out a little hard and stood up before he said, "Okay, so… if she was trying to see us at the field then obviously her killer was there. But I would have remembered this guy."

"So you think that he hired someone to kill her," Beckett stated.

"That would come to mind," Castle said. "Since he has a business and his employees would note him being gone. Unless he didn't work that day in the first place."

"What about motive?" Beckett asked.

"He was okay with her coming out but finding out she wanted to become a man he snapped," Castle told her. "He was the man and he wanted it to stay that way between them. So he had her killed."

"I don't think so," Brad said, coming into the room. "According to Ms. Yearling the vic never really kept in touch with her ex after the halted wedding."

"Is that the ME report?" Beckett asked as she saw the file that he was holding.

"It is, he wanted to finish up the toxicology scan though he might have a fingerprint. That'll take more time to process so he sent what he has so far," Brad replied. "And you two were right, she was injected with strychnine. A lethal dose that would have killed her quickly," he said.

"Did they find anything in the closet? Any evidence?" Castle asked.

"No and the security camera footage outside the men's changing room's a bust. Only workers who've been checked out and you four on the team were in and out," Brad replied.

"So the question now is how exactly they got into the closet if they didn't come in the only entrance and exit there is," Castle said.

"They can't go through the windows," Beckett said quickly. "The windows are very thin and you'd have to really work to get even half your body through and of course there aren't any in that closet."

"I wasn't going to say the windows," Brad told them. "What I was going to say is we'll need to go out to the room and see what there is in that closet. And I've got Hutchinson to start looking into how to procure strychnine and besides that…"

"The daughter?" Beckett said.

"Her name is Tracey Russ and I didn't get very far going over to talk to her," Brad replied, shaking his head. "So I don't know about her. I sent Wade over to her to try and talk to her."

"Why is she there?" Castle asked.

"She stabbed her foster mother," Brad said. "She's there for attempted murder and she'll be there for a while as they were able to prove that she'd planned it."

"I wonder if she's even aware of who her parents are," Beckett said.

"Her mother is Andrea Morgan," Brad replied. "After the birth of the baby she headed to the city and she's still there, unfortunately she's paralyzed from the waist down after an accident in a cab four years ago. Wade will ask Russ if she's aware of her parents but I highly doubt it."

"Is there anything left?" Castle asked. "Well, besides the killer of course."

"Mr. Cora," Brad said, nodding over to the room. "You can both come with me."

"Thanks," Castle said slowly.

"You don't want to talk to him?" Brad asked in slight surprise.

"He does, he's just thinking about how you're going to handle this," Beckett told the chief.

"Okay," Brad replied. "Come on, we need to talk to him now just in case he might be our killer."

Walking after him, Beckett went into the room ahead of her husband and watched as Cora looked up at their arrival.

"Mr. Cora," Brad said. "I have my consultants here, Ms. Beckett and Mr. Castle, and we'd like to ask you some questions."

"Yeah, I got that when you were taking me away from my work," Cora said angrily. "What is this about?"

"Do you know this woman?" Brad asked as he slid the picture of the vic towards him.

"Of course, she was my fiancée, Eileen," Cora replied. "Why?" he then asked suspiciously.

"She was murdered about three hours ago," Beckett said first.

"What?" Cora said, his eyes growing wide. "But… how?"

"I'm wondering where you may have been between eleven and twelve earlier today," Brad said instead of answering.

"I was at my nursery of course, we opened at twelve and at eleven I was there already to get everything ready for opening," Cora responded.

"What can you tell us about your relationship with her?" Castle then said.

"We never saw each other after she ended our engagement," Cora said simply.

"We heard," Beckett said. "How did you feel when she did that?"

"I wasn't happy of course," Cora replied after rolling his eyes. "Especially since she did it just a half hour before the ceremony was supposed to start. But she told me she was gay so I realized she probably gave the two of us a gift. There's no way she could have kept from me she wanted to sleep with women… really wanted to."

"What do you mean?" Brad asked after sharing a look with Castle and Beckett.

"She had an affair about six months before we were going to get married," Cora said simply. When he saw they looked startled he said, "She did, she was staying out at night and I noticed on her bills charges at a hotel the next town over. There was a pattern to them and the next time I knew she would go I went and saw her with another woman."

"Did you confront her?" Beckett was the first to ask.

"Of course, but not there; didn't want to make a scene; I did that at home," Cora replied. "And she said she might be bisexual so she couldn't help experimenting. She felt bad; I could tell; and she swore she would never do it again."

"Did she?" Castle said.

"No," Cora replied firmly.

"What makes you so sure?" Beckett inquired.

"The woman she was having the affair with came to our house and tried to get her to come outside to talk to her," Cora answered.

"What was her name?" Brad said, pen and paper at the ready for that.

"Judy Fletcher," Cora replied. "She told me her name," he quickly added as he guessed they might ask. "Eileen did."

"And have you heard anything from her since that time?" Brad said.

"No," Cora said. "I did see her once at the nursery but when she saw me she literally ran off."

"When was this?" Beckett said.

"About… two months ago," Cora replied.

When Brad motioned out of sight of the man to them Castle and Beckett left the room and went to the chief's office.

"Interesting story," Castle said.

"You don't believe it?" Beckett asked him as they sat down in front of the desk.

"Oh no I do, I'm just wondering his calm," Castle replied. "If it were me I'd be having a good long look at her sexuality before we got married."  
Looking thoughtful Beckett then said, "Maybe he had no reason to disbelieve her when she said she was bi."

Nodding Castle said, "That had crossed my mind. But he's very calm being dumped and that soon before the wedding."

"Then he could have had his doubts," Beckett said. When her husband looked at her she said, "If his alibi checks out."

"Which we're doing right now," Brad said as he walked into the room.

"Anything after we left?" Castle asked his friend.

"Just taking him to holding," Brad replied. "Since it won't take me all that long to check on his alibi."

"Need us to do anything?" Castle said.

"No," Brad said with a smile. "Just wait and then we'll go from here."

With a nod, the two watched the chief make the call and as soon as he'd hung up Beckett stated, "They said he was there."

"He was and they're going to send me security footage from outside the door to his office; that's the only way he can get in and out," Brad said.

"I get the feeling there won't be any sign of him leaving," Castle said.

"Yeah, and that one door to enter and exit makes me want to check out the changing room," Brad told the two as he stood. "We'll go after this."

"What about the mistress?" Beckett said as she and her husband got up from their chairs.

"That we'll deal with after, Bernier searched for her and let me know she lives in the area," Brad answered as they left the office. "He'll pick her up and bring her here."

"You're putting her in the interview room, right?" Castle asked him.

"Yes, he will," Brad said simply.

They left the station then and went in separate cars over to the polo fields and Castle said to his wife, "Think the mistress might be involved?"

"It's something to consider," Beckett replied. She became thoughtful and said, "She could have come to hate the vic because she dumped her. But that was about five years ago."

"Still," Castle said. "Maybe she lured her there to the polo fields." He then said, "Wait, we're looking at her hiding in the closet as trying to see me… or us both. What if she was just trying to hide?"

Beckett thought that over for a while before she then said, "It's possible, maybe it was the note she wanted us to see."

"Which is why she gave it to Hutchinson," Castle said.

Nodding once then Beckett said, "We'll have to tell Brad."

"Does that mean she's going to be moved to interrogation?" Castle asked.

"Maybe," Beckett said. "We'd have to leave it up to him." They were parking next to the chief then and when she got out she wasn't surprised when her husband was immediately telling the man what they'd discussed in the car.

"That's a good idea," Brad said after he'd thought over what his friend had told him. "Alright, I didn't think it was necessary but yes, she'll have to go into the box."

"Will you let us go ahead of you?" Castle asked as the chief was getting a walkie-talkie from his belt.

"No, stay here," Brad told him seriously.

Walking a little away from them Beckett said to her husband, "I know what you're thinking."

"About what?" Castle asked though he was aware what she was talking about.

"You're thinking there's going to be a secret doorway or something somewhere in the building," Beckett said, pointing over to where the changing rooms were.

"It makes sense," Castle said.

"The Old Haunt influenced you too much," Beckett told him teasingly.

With a smile Castle nodded before he noticed that Brad was still on the walkie-talkie. "I wonder if there's something wrong," he commented to his wife.

"No, he might be getting more information on the case," Beckett said. She then reminded him, "The security footage."

Castle gave his wife a nod before he saw that his friend was putting the walkie-talkie back on his belt. "Well?" he asked once the chief was close to them.

"He was there and didn't move from around the office," Brad said. "Let's go in, you have the gloves I gave you?" When the two nodded he then led them over to the building and on the men's side he went inside first, going straight to the closet.

"Good thing our next game isn't until next year," Castle commented.

"Wait out there Rick," Beckett told him as she slipped into the closet past Brad.

"You're no fun," Castle said teasingly.

"What?" Brad asked him.

"We were talking about there being a secret doorway or something here," Beckett told him.

"You know he might be right," the chief told her.

"We'll see," Beckett said simply before she saw he was moving. Sighing she said to her husband who had come in with her, "Have fun with the door."

"Thanks, I will," Castle said before he then proceeded to feel around the three walls of the closet to see what he could find.

Brad watched the two, trying not to smile, as they were looking at things from two completely different directions. He wanted to tell Castle, when he started to knock on the walls, that he wasn't going to find anything when he heard something different in the back wall before he and Beckett looked over at it and she spoke first.

"Empty space," Beckett told him.

Castle shook his head and then felt around the area with his knuckles before he felt something shifting. With a nod, he then pushed the wall in hard and when it collapsed on a tiny room he glanced at his wife. " _Ní ba chóir duit amhras na ballaí_ ," he told her, laughing when she shoved at his shoulder.

"What did you say?" Brad asked his friend when he came to stand with her.

"You shouldn't doubt the walls," Castle replied before she stepped out of the room. "Is there a doorway on the other side of that?"

"You might want to go around the back of the building to check," Beckett told Brad. "There's a doorknob."

Watching the chief leave then Castle stepped inside and he said, "You know this building is old, right?"

"I was aware, it's right on the scoreboard they built this in 1904," Beckett said. "I'm assuming that goes with this building too."

As she opened the door Castle said to Brad who was on the other side, "Is someone here you can talk to?"

"Yeah, I'll need to check on that…" the chief said before he left them.

Walking out to the locker room Beckett sat on the bench nearest the closet and she said, "You didn't know about it."

"No clue, for all we knew this was a janitor's closet," Castle replied. "But I wonder if something like this was on the women's side."

"Can't be," Beckett said. "It's an add on since women didn't start playing here until… the fifties at least."

"That's right, you can tell," Castle said thoughtfully.

"I wonder if I should ask what's going through your mind," Beckett said, watching him.

"What if," Castle said as he sat next to her. "The killer was someone from the family that used to own these fields." He wasn't surprised when his wife looked at him in confusion and explained, "The Thornes built the field but they ran into money issues really soon after it was finished and they had to sell it. What if a descendant came back to kill her because it turns out this daughter is another one and Eileen was going to go to the-"

"It's not going to work," Beckett said, pressing her hand to his chest. "I know where you're going with that but it's getting too long winded."

"I had to try," Castle replied. When his wife nodded he smiled and then frowned before looking at the smaller room past the closet. "It has no use."

"No, it does," Beckett corrected him. "Some use but not one we can see."

"What if they snuck girls in here?" Castle asked.

Beckett was going to protest that but then paused before she said, "Maybe."

"Guys," Brad said to the two as he stood in the doorway. "The owner is here."

With that Castle and Beckett got up and followed him outside as the chief told them that he'd called in CSU to go over the small room. They then turned to the owner that they knew, Randall Roth, after greeting him.

"I can't really go into detail about the history of this field," Roth told them. "But I realize you know a little bit about it since we informed you when you went with Mayor Foster to register your team," he directed to Castle. "But I've heard about the room you mentioned Chief Davis, it was thought to be just a rumor."

"What's been said about it?" Beckett asked.

Sighing Roth said, "I'd heard from the previous owner that people might try to find the mistress' room once I had it. From what's been said the elder Baylor Thorne built that room for his son's mistress to slip into the changing room while he was there for games."

"Baylor Jr. was captain of the Hampton Bay Riders," Castle said. "I've known about him since I moved into the Hamptons. He was essentially chased out of town when he tried to destroy city hall to build a castle. And I mean that literally, he went on to build Black Shade Palace up north."

"He's right," Roth said. "And he had a number of mistresses so I suppose I should have said the room would have been for plural women. But again, no one knew that it was real… can I see it?"

"From the outside," Brad said as Castle and Beckett looked at him.

" _What do you know about the palace_?" Beckett whispered to her husband as they followed the two men a bit behind as they were going around the building.

"We've been there," Castle said. "You know its real name, Thorne Hall."

"Then why Black Shade?" Beckett asked.

"I don't know, I told you Thorne Hall because I was hoping you wouldn't want to use it for a book of ours," Castle answered. When she just stared at him he said, "Stupid reason I know but Connelly used that for a past book of his, way past. But there's a story about Black Shade I think you heard earlier this year when I was in DC; it was on the news as well as the story about Bracken."

"Of course, the orgy where nearly everyone died from Spanish Fly back in 1921," Beckett said with a nod. "Baylor Junior survived, didn't he?"

"He did," Castle replied. "And he escaped to Europe and stayed there."

"You just discounted your theory, didn't you?" Beckett asked as she recalled the mention of the current heirs to the man living in Germany.

"I didn't really have much put into it," Castle said with a shrug as they looked ahead and watched Roth looking into the room.

"It's deteriorated," the man commented. He then stepped back and told the chief, "What goes with the stories about this room is that it was lavishly appointed even if it was just going to be used as a waiting station."

"Was it ever used?" Beckett asked.

"I guess it was," Roth said thoughtfully. "Since there are stories of teammates chasing off women inside; but they were never connected to the room."

"You figured it was how the rumors about the room got started," Castle said.

The owner nodded and then sighed saying, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, thank you for what you have done," Brad told the man. "Wait," he said quickly.

"How many people knew about this room?" Castle asked.

"A number," Roth said. "Whoever is connected to this will have heard the rumors. But I will stress we always thought they were rumors."

After saying thank you again to the man Brad looked over to the parking lot that was in view and waved to CSU before he turned to Castle and Beckett. "That broadens our number of possible suspects," he told them.

"Of course it does," Castle said. He glanced inside and said, "Roth was right, this was a stunning room at one point."

Looking at the faded and deteriorating fabrics on the two seats across from each other and the ripped and faded wallpaper Beckett said, "I thought you said that Thorne lost the fields?"

"He did, but that didn't mean his son stopped playing polo," Castle said. "Which is why the women still showed up."

"Weird that no one tried to find the room if it was known here," Beckett commented.

"You know what's weirder," Brad said. When the two looked at him questioningly he said, "That you weren't fully aware of it."

"I'd heard things here and there," Castle said. "But more that it was over at the club house, not the changing rooms. It wasn't until later I'd heard it was for the mistresses and thought it was a building that wasn't here anymore. Maybe I didn't want to think about mistresses."

"You have to now," Brad said as they watched CSU go into the room. "Go ahead to your car, we'll talk there."

" _So, two 'secrets' hidden by walls_ ," Castle commented as they walked away. When his wife looked at him he said, " _I can't get that song_ Skye _performed with her band out of my head now_."

Beckett shook her head, though she was slightly smiling, and said, " _I'm not surprised_."

Castle expected her to say more but when she merely walked up to their car he realized she was recalling too. He followed her and they leaned against the car, waiting for Brad to rejoin them.

* * *

 _"How's your voice doing?" Beckett asked with a smile as she stood with her friend next to the table where the drinks were._

 _"Surprisingly well," Skye said. "Getting later in the night though."_

 _"Does that mean you're going to stop playing?" Castle asked, with them._

 _"Not yet, we still have a while to go," Mary said, joining them. "Paul has a request_ grá _; after hearing_ _us_ _play the_ _Wilbury's_ _song."_

 _"Oh?" Skye asked her. When her wife murmured the song into her ear she said, "Any reason?"_

 _"I think he just wants to see how much we can play," Mary replied._

 _"Maybe this is an audition," Castle commented._

 _"For what?"_ _Skye said, looking at him._

 _"A concert maybe, or a recording," Castle suggested after thinking for a moment._

 _"We'd only be so lucky, excuse us," Skye told them._

 _"I wonder what song he asked for," Castle mused as he and his wife walked closer to the band._

 _"I think we'll hear soon," Beckett said, looking at him._

 _Castle merely nodded, watching as the five then began to get their instruments ready, Skye talking to the other three members of the band._ _He looked over to his left seeing Paul standing there with Ringo and he was tempted to ask them what the song was when Skye began to talk._

 _"A request from Paul," the woman said, smiling at the singer. "This one is called_ Walls _, by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers." After a few people applauded she waited for Mary to start strumming her acoustic before Barry played the opening on his drums and soon after she started to sing._

 _Some days are diamonds  
Some days are rocks  
Some doors are open  
Some roads are blocked_

 _Sundowns_ _are golden  
Then fade away  
But if I never do nothing  
I'll get you back someday_

 _Feeling her husband's hand holding onto her a little tighter Beckett looked at him and smiled before she murmured, "You're going to sing the chorus, aren't you?" as she knew he enjoyed that song._

 _"I won't drown her out she's doing a great job," Castle replied before Skye, Mary and Raj began the chorus._

 _'Cause you got a heart so big  
It could crush this town  
And I can't hold out forever  
Even walls fall down_

 _Watching Skye's fingering on the neck of her guitar Beckett then glanced at Paul, seeing he was looking at that interestedly. She had to wonder if her husband was right, and looking back at her friend she hoped he was._

 _And all around your island  
There's a barricade  
It keeps out the danger  
It holds in the pain_

 _Sometimes you're happy  
Sometimes you cry  
Half of me __is_ _ocean  
Half of me __is_ _sky_

 _When the chorus began again Mary and Raj echoed some of the lines that Skye was singing and Castle was swaying with his wife though he could tell she wasn't really involved in it, instead listening to the song._

 _But you got a heart so big  
It could crush this town  
And I can't hold out forever  
Even walls fall down_

 _Playing the guitar during the short instrumental Skye forgot who exactly was watching her and she walked back and forth in the space she had. She heard a whistle to that as she was playing her guitar in a_ _very_ _focused way and going back to her mic smiled at Beckett when she started to sing though she soon glanced at her wife._

 _And some things are over  
Some things go on  
And part of me you carry  
Part of me is gone_

 _Beckett wasn't surprised to hear Skye's voice breaking a little at the end of that verse or that she quickly touched the pilot's wings hanging from her necklace before she launched into the chorus._

 _But you got a heart so big  
It could crush this town  
And I can't hold out forever  
Even walls fall down_

 _Baby you got a heart so big  
It could crush this town  
And I can't hold on forever  
Even walls fall down  
They fall down_

 _The song ended with an instrumental until Skye was on her own, playing her guitar before she let it fade out to the applause from the audience. She smiled when finally she stopped and made a quick bow with the rest of the band. "Thank you," she said quickly._

 _"Think I might make a request?" Ringo then asked._

 _"Sure," Skye said with a smile. She was surprised when the drummer walked up to her and she and the rest of her band listened to his request and she looked around at them. "I think we can do that," she said with a nod and a smile before they went to change their guitars that would be needed for that song._

 _"One of his songs?"_ _Castle murmured to his wife._

 _"I highly doubt it," Beckett said, trying not to smile._

 _"Alright, we have another request so we'll sing it for you here," Skye said to the audience in front of them. "It's called_ I Won't Back Down _, we hope you'll enjoy."_

 _Watching as Mary began to play Beckett quickly placed the song and she murmured to her husband, "George played in this one."_

 _"And Ringo was in the video," Castle whispered before Skye sang._

 _Well I won't back down,_ _no I won't back down  
You could stand me up at the gates of hell  
But I won't back down_

 _"Now we know why he asked for this one," Castle commented._

 _"I don't blame him though, he's seeing how they do," Beckett added before they stopped when Skye moved to the next verse._

 _No, I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around  
And I'll keep this world from __draggin_ _' me down  
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down_

 _As the chorus began then the rest of the band proceeded to sing with Skye though she would take every other line._

 _I won't back down  
Hey baby there ain't no easy way out  
I won't back down  
Hey, I will stand my ground  
And I won't back down_

 _Beckett glanced over at the two singers, seeing they were whispering to each other every so often, knowing they were watching the guitars and the drumming. She could see they approved of the performance and she looked to Skye to see if she noticed. But she wasn't really surprised to see the investigator was focused on her singing, doing so very quickly again._

 _Well you know what's right, I got just one life  
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around  
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down_

 _As he had been watching his wife Castle had seen what she'd been watching and just before the chorus started up again he squeezed her hand, smiling as Beckett looked at him questioningly. He shook his head just barely before they turned their attention back ahead of them._

 _I won't back down  
Hey there ain't no easy way out  
I won't back down  
Hey, I will stand my ground  
I won't back down  
And I won't back down_

 _Skye began to play slide guitar at the break and she stepped towards her wife, smiling at her as she could just barely hear her calling out to her in encouragement. When she needed to go back to her mic she winked at Mary and went quickly back before she would have to sing._

 _I won't back down  
Hey baby there ain't no easy way out  
I won't back down  
Hey I will stand my ground  
I won't back down  
And I won't back down  
I won't back down  
I won't back down  
And I won't back down_

 _The song ended there and after the others had applauded Skye thanked them and took off her guitar saying to her wife softly that she needed a drink._

 _Castle expected them to take a break seeing the band was starting to move away from the instruments when suddenly Marie and Kathleen were rushing to their mothers and whispering to them both. "_ Now what _?" he murmured to his wife in Irish._

 _"_ I would guess another _Tom Petty_ song _," Beckett replied, her voice low as well._

 _"Alright, well, we've had a request here," Mary said, smiling as the two girls went back to stand with Castle and Beckett. "Another song from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers_ You Don't Know How It Feels _; we hope you'll enjoy."_

 _Skye began playing after checking to make sure that Raj was prepared to play and after her opening he was joining her on his harmonica before the rest of the band joined in. They kept that up for a bit longer and she then stepped up to her mic to begin singing once more._

 _Let me run with you tonight  
I'll take you on a moonlight ride  
There's someone I used to see  
But she don't give a damn for me_

 _Beckett was startled when; at the last line; Skye stared at Mary, raising her eyebrows before the woman was stepping up to her._

 _"Like the music video," Castle whispered to his wife rapidly before the chorus could begin. "When the woman makes-" he continued._

 _"I know," Beckett interrupted him before the two women were singing together at the same mic._

 _But let me get to the point, let's roll another joint  
And turn the radio loud, I'm too alone to be proud  
You don't know how it feels  
You don't know how it feels to be me_

 _With a slight smile on her face Beckett watched Skye playfully kick Mary back to her mic but they were mouthing words to each other. She knew they were in another language but couldn't guess which it was before the investigator was singing once more._

 _People come, people go  
Some grow young, some grow cold  
I woke up in between  
A memory and a dream_

 _Before the chorus began Mary strolled to her wife and they were singing together, smiling at each other as they could hear their daughters clapping for them._

 _So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint  
Let's head on down the road  
There's somewhere I gotta go  
And you don't know how it feels  
You don't know how it feels, to be me_

 _Raj began to play his harmonica again as the instrumental break began and Skye played her bass heavy handed. Mary broke in with her Rickenbacker, almost playing slide to get her notes as high as she needed to and Raj came in again before Skye sang the next verse._

 _My old man was born to rock  
He's still trying' to beat the clock  
Think of me what you will  
I got a little space to fill_

 _With the last singing of the chorus Skye and Mary went into their lyrics hard, pressing very close and Beckett had to wonder what the two would end up doing if they were singing that same song alone together. She felt her husband squeezing her back and she glanced at him, realizing he was thinking the exact same thing, and she smiled slightly before they continued to watch the two women's performance._

 _So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint  
Let's head on down the road  
To somewhere I gotta go  
And you don't know how it feels  
No, you don't know how it feels to be me_

 _When they'd played out the song for nearly half a minute Skye thanked everyone and told them; after their applause had went down some; that they would be taking a break. Paul stopped her and Mary from walking away from their instruments and they spoke seriously for some time before they were allowed to go._

 _"You were perfect Mummy! And you too Mommy," Kathleen said first when the two had joined them when they'd reached their table._

 _"Thanks, we don't often practice those two," Skye commented as she hugged Kathleen while her wife hugged Marie. "_ Ne khorosho _?" she asked with a smile._

 _"Did you just ask if that was no good?" Castle asked in mock annoyance. When the two smiled at him he said, "You might want to show Tom Petty your performance. In fact, I will because that was awesome."_

 _"Despite the fact that you won't be able to send anything to him," Skye began. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."_

 _"I have to ask; did you speed up Walls?" Castle asked._

 _"We feel more comfortable with it faster," Mary answered._

 _"Good touch, it did work better for the two of you," Castle said with a nod._

 _"How much can you play from him?" Beckett asked. "_ And that was a fantastic performance by the way, both songs _," she added in Russian._

 _Nodding her head Skye said, "A number of them, we do play more than just The Beatles and their solo works."_

 _"Are you going to play more?" Castle said. "Any songs."_

 _"We may," Skye said. "But for now, I think we'll be getting something to drink," she continued and with that she led the way to the table, humming the song she and her wife had just performed as her daughters joined in with her._


	11. Had Found Another Love (Part 2)

"Rick," Beckett said.

"What?" Castle asked, turning to her in surprise from the cup of coffee that he was making for himself.

Smiling at his startled expression from her use of his name Beckett told him, "You're humming."

"I got the last song they sang stuck in my head," Castle replied. "Insanely good."

"He was in The Traveling Wilburys so he's good," Beckett said, watching him sit next to her. "I'm thinking about Black Shade," she told him.

"I have been too, you remember that small room we saw, right?" Castle asked her.

"It was almost identical," Beckett said with a nod. "And I get the feeling that was on purpose."

"Though the spiral staircase looked really out of place," Castle said.

"What else do you yourself know about Thorne Junior?" Beckett asked him as she knew he'd been looking into the man while she herself had been looking at Fletcher as Brad had been out with a few other officers to find the woman who was AWOL from her job.

"It says that his father died in 1915 and when that happened Junior moved into the palace… or manor," Castle said, recalling what he'd seen. "Whatever you want to call it. He had numerous mistresses; four of whom became wives number two through five. He had ten kids; six girls and four boys. Two girls married lesser Vanderbilts and Rockefellers but they're not important, they moved to Colorado and Michigan and the families from them are still there."

"And the other eight kids?" Beckett asked as she knew one of them was likely going to apply to their case in some way.

"One of the daughters," Castle said. "I had to make some phone calls but I discovered that Violet Thorne is the great-grandmother of our vic."

"She…" Beckett said.

"I know, I had the same reaction as you," Castle said with a nod to his wife's expression. "Violet married a local boy, wealthy of course."

"Of course," Beckett echoed.

"His name was Wallis McGale," Castle told her. "And their son had Eileen's father with his wife."

"Does she get anything from the family?" Beckett asked.

"Oh no," Castle said. "By now that money is long gone. But the interesting thing is that money went from Junior to the third Baylor Thorne and Baylor Thorne the third had a son who had a daughter."

"And from you not saying anything else I'm assuming this is big?" Beckett said. "But not dealing with case," she had to add as he didn't continue.

"Jessica Atkins," Castle said.

"Charlie's wife," Beckett said in shock as that was her married name. "She never mentioned it before," she said, recalling past conversations with the woman. She then said, "Are you sure the money's gone?"

"The money is but Black Shade is not," Castle said.

Beckett opened her mouth to speak before she then said, "So the home is no longer that, it's a tourist site but with Eileen around-"

"Jessica would have to share the profits left after they go to the conservation group," Castle finished.

"We should talk to her," Beckett said, grabbing her phone.

Castle was quiet as his wife spoke to the chief and when she hung up he said, "He was shocked?"

"Very and said that he thought coming down here from Albany there would be less… scandal," Beckett replied. "I'm guessing he's referring to the wives and hidden rooms."

"He's devoted to your friend," Castle pointed out.

"Yes," Beckett said simply. "Let's go," she added, standing up. "We need to talk to Jessica."

"And see the horses," Castle said when they were walking out. When she gave him a look he said simply, "I can read your mind; you already thought of that."

Beckett simply looked at him before she turned her attention to the door out to the parking lot. She drove them to the stables and when they were both out of the car she said to her husband, "Let me talk to her."

"I figured," Castle said. "Let's hope she's with her horse."

"I hope so," Beckett said with a nod. She walked down the path that separated the corrals from the stable buildings and called, "Lupita."

"You're here to ride?" the vet asked in surprise.

"No, is Jessica here?" Castle answered.

Nodding Lupita told them, "She is in building four."

"Anything wrong?" Beckett asked.

"She moved one of the mares that is pregnant," Lupita replied. "Snow."

"Thank you," Beckett told her. She then said to her husband, "They've tried for a while with her."  
"I know, they must be glad," Castle said with a nod. They reached their horses; in Stable Two; and he said, "Good luck."

Glancing at him Beckett went down the path to the second to last building where she paused in the entrance, searching out the owner's wife in the darkness. "Jessica," she called once she spotted her near a stall.

"Kate," the woman said, turning and smiling at her. "What can I help you with?" She looked behind her and said, "Where's Rick?"

"I'm consulting on a case with Chief Davis," Beckett said instead of answering the question. "And I need to ask you something about our victim."

"Do I know them?" Jessica asked, looking startled.

"Yes, she's in fact close," Beckett said.

"Eileen," Jessica stated. When Beckett looked at her in surprise she sighed and said, "Charlie told me what had happened, Theo called him and described the woman. I know it was Eileen and… I guess I should have known you were going to want to talk to me. Come on."

Beckett was startled but followed her, making sure when Jessica was looking away from her that she had her gun on her hip still, before they made their way up to the office building; which was also home to the Atkins as they were in between homes at that moment. "How well did you know her?" she asked.

"I know she was my cousin… third removed? Second removed? Something like that," Jessica replied. "But we weren't super close. We'd have lunch once a month since we were family and I knew she was going to become Cousin Evander eventually. Oh, and she let me know last week that I'd have another cousin since her wife was pregnant. Speaking of that, Snow-"

"Lupita told us about that when we came down the path," Beckett interrupted her as they went into the office the two shared. "Congratulations."

"It was about time," Jessica replied. "Okay, what I brought you in for is this," she told Beckett after searching through a drawer of her desk.

Taking the sheaf of documents Beckett read them over before she nodded and said, "You co-owned Black Shade."

"We were, it was only fair," Jessica said.

Her eyes pausing on the date on one of the documents Beckett said, "You only started doing that a year ago."

"We weren't aware of who we were to each other before then, after I discovered some papers of my great grandfather that revealed who her family was on her father's side," Jessica said. "But I should have known, she and I have the same eyes and nose. It just never occurred to me since I knew her mother was African American… stupid of me."

"I was a friend of hers too and I was shocked when I heard about this," Beckett assured her. "I need to take pictures of some of these papers."

"I can do a little better; let me copy them for you," Jessica replied. As she was doing so she then said, "You're not going to ask my alibi?"

"I saw you at the fields," Beckett said. She then said, "I know you love to watch Charlie play so you weren't going to leave in case he played."

"Is Rick okay?" Jessica asked.

"He's fine," Beckett replied with a smile. She took the papers the woman handed her and said, "Someone from the PD might be in touch with you in the future."

"I guessed," Jessica replied, walking with her to leave the building.

After thanking the woman Beckett went over to the second building and she said to her husband, "She knew and I'm sure Wade's not going to find anything with their financials."

Looking at the papers she was holding up Castle said, "I had a feeling." He took them from her so she could pet Alex and said, "Want to lead him around? I told Brad to call us." When his wife looked at him he explained, "I was going to suggest going to the café for tea and coffee but you were set on staying."

"Come on," Beckett said after she smiled at him. She got reins on Alex and led him out to the corral, checking on the sky as it wasn't raining then. She let him go as Castle stood on the railings to watch her and walked around counter to the stallion until Alex soon fixed himself. She and her husband were quiet then until she was taking the reins and he was speaking to her while she walked with Alex.

" _I still feel bad_ ," Castle told her.

With a smile Beckett said, " _I was waiting for that and this wasn't your decision alone_."

" _No but still_ …" Castle replied.

Letting Alex go to let him go around the corral on his own Beckett went to where her husband was and told him, " _I knew I would have to stop and I'm okay with that. So really, don't feel bad. And after_ …" she began before she trailed off. " _I won't need to stop riding again_."

" _I had a feeling you might think of it like that_ ," Castle said in slight amusement.

"Alex," Beckett said then when she felt her horse nudging at her back. She turned to him and said, " _Is breá liom tú ró ach caithfidh tú a lig dom labhairt dó_."

Castle smiled and translated in his mind what she'd told the horse, 'I love you too but you have to let me talk to him.' "You think he was jealous?" he asked.

"Probably," Beckett said, turning back to him. "Does it bother you that this is taking a while?"

"Slightly but this case is just bizarre," Castle told her. "Which means I'm enjoying it. A lot."

Beckett smiled and then shook her head before she grew serious and said, "I just wish it wasn't someone we knew."

"I know," Castle said. He then studied her and asked, "You're thinking of the baby, aren't you?"

Shaking her head Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband looked like he was and explained, "I'm thinking of Eileen, losing the chance to be a parent. She would have loved it."

"We never asked who the mother was exactly," Castle commented.

"Eileen," Beckett told him.

"But-" Castle began.

"I know she didn't want to but remember all those times Whitney tried to get pregnant it was with her eggs," Beckett said. "So, I guess she decided she would be the mother and Whitney would be the birth mother." She then sighed and said, "I think she understood she would need to sacrifice what she wanted to be a mother."

"Kate-" Castle said quickly.

" _I know we still have three months before we need to consider it but I've been preparing myself_ ," Beckett told him. " _Just in case_ ," she added quickly before he could say anything.

" _You shouldn't_ ," Castle said.

" _You're that optimistic_?" Beckett asked.

" _You shouldn't be that pessimistic_ ," Castle returned. When she rolled her eyes he smiled and said, " _Really, you said you weren't_."

" _It's a just in case kind of thing_ ," Beckett said. " _That reminds me, I wish we could get back to the girls_."

" _I know but they'd be concerned we came back home_ ," Castle told her.

Beckett laughed softly, checking on Alex quickly before she said, " _He's being very patient today, and it should worry me_." When she had turned her head to look at him she suddenly found his lips on hers and she froze for a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck. After he was slowly pulling away from her some time later she smiled and said, " _Now he probably is jealous_."

" _You never kissed him like that_ ," Castle said. When she laughed slightly he couldn't help himself and leaned over, kissing her once more. He didn't know how long they were like that but he suddenly realized his wife's phone was ringing and he groaned saying, "He has the worst timing," while he and Beckett let go of each other.

"He does but that must mean he found Fletcher," she replied before answering the phone. "Brad?" she asked after putting it onto speaker.

"We got her," the chief replied. "We're almost back to the station so I'll see you there."

"We'll be there," Beckett replied before she hung up. Alex was on the other side of the corral and she whistled to him before he joined her. She led her husband to the stable where their horses were kept, keeping an eye on the stallion next to her. She brushed down Alex quickly as Castle was talking to Julius and once she was done they fed their horses halves of the same apple. "I'm thinking," she told her husband when they were washing their hands. "We should make something with them for dessert."

"Apple pie I'm guessing," Castle told her. When she looked at him he smiled and said, "I could tell, we still have apples from our last trip."

Nodding; since they'd gone back to Apple Canyon the Sunday before Halloween as the girls had begged to go again; Beckett said, "But that's if we can get back home in time."

"Hopefully," Castle said as they reached their car and he drove that time back to the station. "He's not back yet."

"That might mean he had to go far to find her," Beckett said.

"Should have asked where he was," Castle replied before they walked into the station. They waited in the bull pen at their desk for the chief, standing up when he appeared with Bernier and a woman in between them. He glanced at his wife and said, "Is it just me-"

"No, she looks like Yearling," Beckett replied. She walked with him over to the box where they waited for Brad to come out.

"She came willingly," the chief said when he stepped outside to them. "She left work because she heard what happened to our vic and she was upset; she still is."

"Do you want me to talk to her on my own?" Beckett asked, thinking that was the case.

"You two," Brad said. "I don't want to be there-"

"To show she's not a suspect," Castle interrupted his friend. When Brad nodded he said, "Is she?"

"It depends on what she says in there," the chief said. "Go, I'll be in observation."

With a nod Beckett led the way into the room with her husband, glad that she'd brought her pad of paper with her from the desk. "Ms. Fletcher," she said when the woman looked up at them. She schooled herself to not show her surprise at how the woman's grief was so obvious and horrible on her face. "I'm Kate Beckett and this is my husband, Richard Castle. We're consultants with the Hamptons police and Chief Davis would like us to speak with you."

"He said, I told him it was okay," Fletcher replied in a whisper. "You're helping him investigate Ellie's murder?"

"We are," Castle said, having to hide his surprise then at the nickname since he and Beckett had only ever heard Eileen's wife call her that.

"Then I didn't kill her," Fletcher said immediately, staring seriously at Castle and Beckett across from her. "I can give you an alibi for whenever she was… k-killed."

Glancing at her husband when the woman began to cry Beckett waited for her to calm down enough before she said, "This morning between eleven and twelve."

"I was at work in Sayville, I work at a florist's shop there," Fletcher replied, her voice shaking. "I-I go in at nine and then get off at three but… while I was eating lunch someone told me what had happened and… I had to, had to leave. They have cameras so you should be able to." She paused there to take a deep, shuddering breath before she said, "To see me."

"Why don't you tell us about your relationship with Eileen," Beckett said gently.

"We… we had an affair together," Fletcher began. She sighed and said, to the fact that the two across the table from here weren't surprised by her words, "You've heard already."

"We have, from Eileen's fiancé at the time," Castle said first.

"Oh… Cora," Fletcher said with a sigh.

"Did you know much about him when you were with Eileen?" Beckett asked.

"Not really, just that Ellie couldn't tell him that she was realizing she was gay," Fletcher replied. "She said he might be upset a little but she was forcing herself to go through with the wedding."

"Did he ever confront you two?" Castle then said.

"No, I never saw him before when I went to their house to talk to Ellie," Fletcher said. "But about two weeks before the wedding she ended our relationship."

"How did you feel about that?" Beckett inquired.

"I was upset but I knew the reason why," Fletcher replied. "I never let myself think that she was going to stay with me because she was in denial, so I let her go though not without regret after trying one last time to get her to come with me."

"But you knew what happened at the wedding," Castle stated.

"I did," Fletcher said slowly. "But not until she was already married to her wife."

"That long," Beckett stated.

Nodding Fletcher said, "I don't know why she did that, I thought we were close until I realized that it was just a fling for her to… test the waters you'd say."

"That didn't make you angry?" Castle asked.

"Not really, by the time I saw her and her wife I was already with my girlfriend Donatella," Fletcher replied. "We've been dating for ten years and I… I'm planning on proposing after we have Thanksgiving dinner with our families."

Waiting for a bit Beckett then said, "You seem torn up still hearing about her murder."

"Of course, I do," Fletcher said. "We weren't together for very long but… it was long enough for us to be close."

"Alright we'll check on your alibi right now and let you know if you can go," Beckett said as she had nothing to say to that and she knew they'd gotten all they could from the woman. "But I would stay in Sayville."

Castle walked out behind the women before they watched Brad leading her out of the bull pen to leave the station. He sighed and said, "I didn't really think she had much to do with this in the first place."

"With Cora cleared and her very soon after I'm sure we'll be back at square one," Beckett stated.

"What do you think we should do?" Castle asked.

"Go back to the beginning," Beckett said. "But before we try that we can look at the contents of that box better."

"It's still bothering you?" Castle said. When his wife just looked at him he said, "Me too." He followed her to Brad's office and while she was writing about Fletcher on the murder board he got the file with the copy photographs of everything in the box. "You know what's weird," he said.

"Everything in there?" Beckett replied, knowing what he was looking at.

"She's right, though what one thing did you center on?" Brad said as he walked into the office in time to hear that.

"It's just the pictures and adoption papers," Castle said. "You talked to the mother, right?"

"Yes," Brad said slowly. "I told you about her being in the city."

"No, the idea that he would be under surveillance," Castle said.

"I thought of that myself," Beckett said as Brad sat in the chair next to her husband; where she herself usually sat. "And I was wondering about the idea of just a stalker."

"But where would the vic come into this?" Brad said.

"She was the stalker," Castle and Beckett said at the same time.

"Some time ago… oh, I think I see what you mean," Brad said. "But that would mean that Cora would be involved."

"Or his wife," Beckett said.

"Or his wife," Brad echoed. He looked concerned for a moment before he nodded and said, "I can call her right now."

"What if she's with her son?" Castle asked as his friend got up to go around the table and then to his phone.

"She'll make the time," Brad said. "I'm putting this on speaker but I think it'll be better if I talk on my own." When they nodded he looked at the number for the Cora home and dialed it, setting it onto speaker.

"Hello?" Antonia Cora said.

"Mrs. Cora this is Chief Davis from the Hamptons PD," Brad told her.

"Robbie told me you might be calling me," Antonia replied.

"He told you we spoke to him," Brad said.

"Yes, and apparently that you thought he killed his gay ex," Antonia said.

Castle turned his head quickly to see his wife's reaction to that; not surprised when she rolled her eyes at the annoyance obvious in the woman's voice. He looked back at the chief, pleading his friend to let Beckett speak.

Shaking his head Brad then said, "I'm wondering if you ever knew about Mr. Cora's daughter," looking up at Beckett as he spoke.

As she had thought of doing that herself Beckett didn't reply and instead gave him a quick incline of her head. She couldn't help smiling slightly at the chief's surprise at her reaction but no one could say anything as Antonia was speaking.

"Of course I did, he told me as soon as we met, she'd just been born," Antonia said. "We weren't dating then but he had a picture of her and was showing her off."

"And you never thought to take her in?" Brad asked after he had read that question on a paper that Castle slid over to him.

"She has some mental issues," Antonia said. She sighed before saying, "And since she nearly killed her foster mother I'm glad we didn't bring her into the family."

"Did you ever meet with Eileen McGale?" Brad then asked as Beckett wrote down that on the paper.

"No," Antonia said firmly. "And if you're going to ask for an alibi I was here at home with my son. We have a gate with a video camera on it so you can check. Is there anything else chief? No? Thank you."

At the sound of the dial tone Castle said in the silence that had fallen between the three of them, "Well I guess you might as well clear her."

"I should have recalled Cora would have told her what happened," Brad said as he was leaving the office.

"And I wonder why exactly she took a defensive tone," Beckett said as she went over to the murder board. She knew her husband was looking at her so she told him, "The idea being she had an alibi yet was still mad she had to tell us, I know." She sighed and then said, "Another one down though, or she will be."

"We have to be able to find something. You're sure there was nothing from those pictures?" Castle asked.

"I'm sure," Brad said. "Hutchinson went through that with a fine-toothed comb and couldn't get a thing from it. Likely copies of the originals as I told you before."

"Nothing from CSU," Beckett said, turning to the two men after she had finished writing on the board. "And the ME-"

Looking at the ID on his phone that had interrupted her Brad commented, "Eerie," since it was the ME

"Just answer," Beckett said, rolling her eyes.

With a smile, the chief did so before he grew serious and answered the phone saying, "Thayer?"

"Chief I was able to pull some fingerprints on the abdomen of the body; on the same side as the injection so it's definitely your killer," the ME replied. "You'll get the prints in an e-mail and one weird thing about that is the print was in blacking polish. I'm also finished with her clothes as well and there were some grains of either sand or dirt on her; I sent it in to be analyzed."

"How much?" Beckett asked.

"Not a lot, just traces but I'm still having it looked into," Thayer answered.

"Thank you," Brad said. "If you find anything else then let me know."

"Finally something," Castle said as soon as his friend had hung up.

"That depends on the print, if we can't find someone to match it…" Brad replied.

Beckett watched as the chief opened the attachment with the print and then fed it into the database. She then said, "Are either of you wondering about the blacking polish?"

"Yeah, but hopefully-" Castle began to say when a sound came from the computer.

"There's a hit, Conn Sawyer and he's an employee at the Swells Bay Stables," Brad read off the screen.

"That's where Eileen keeps her horse," Castle said, his wife nodding.

"We're gone," Brad said, jumping up before he rushed out with the two into the bull pen to leave the station.


	12. Didn't Hear A Sound

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Great to get what I did for the last chapter so I'll go right into my thank yous for the feedback. MsNYC (It was nice seeing you read the chapters, both of them, and of course that you enjoyed it all too! And great you're enjoying the case since I do want to make those interesting. And the same with you enjoying Julia with Mari the other chapter too, glad that you did of course. Happy to read you thought it was great writing as usual too!),  
TORONTOSUN (I was pleased to see you thought it was a good moment with Ringo joining everybody in the flashback. And I'm definitely happy you thought it was good choice of the song since I love the ones I put in. Really glad too that you thought it was great writing!) and  
vetgirlmx (Glad to see you thought it was a very night chapter. Not surprised that you had a lot of questions even though they cleared a lot of their possible suspects. And if I could I would answer them but of course I'll have to let the story as it goes do that. But it was nice that you have those questions of course! Oh, and with the wife being so defensive, I've watched the show Cops for a long time and you see spouses defensive about their significant others being questions even if they aren't a suspect; I suppose that's just a natural reaction. And I'm really glad you enjoyed how they searched for the hidden room and what they found out with that room. I agree with you, they do that best; among other things; and that's why I wrote that bit to include it. And actually, when I say the Hamptons I kind of mean the entire area which is a made up of different hamlets and towns. Since the show never really explained where the beach house is more specifically I put it next to Southampton but not sure I want to say it's a specific place. So with that there's a lot of options for the cheaters, murders and hidden pasts of course but still it's a small area for that so you make a good point. But I am glad that you agree with Brad that there's too much drama and that you love it too. No surprise you're wondering what Sawyer has to say and are hoping that the case will start moving finally as you put it. And so glad you're eager for the next chapter, now you don't need to wait for it anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them all and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Deceptively Yours_ by Peter Malick, from The Peter Malick Group album _New York City_ featuring Norah Jones.

Didn't Hear A Sound

"Can I help you?" a woman said as she stepped outside what appeared to be an old home at the Swells Bay Stables.

"I'm Chief Davis," Brad said, showing his badge. "Are you Ursula?"

"I am," the woman replied cautiously. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for an employee of yours," Beckett said, standing a bit behind the chief.

"You said Conn," Ursula said to Brad.

"I did," the chief replied. "Where is he? We need to speak with him."

"I don't know," Ursula said after studying the three in front of her for a moment. "Somewhere around here and likely drunk."

"Does he usually make a habit of that?" Castle asked.

"Yeah but since he's one of two people working here with me I have no one else," Ursula replied before she turned around and went back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Are you going after her?" Beckett asked.

"Not worth it, we already know who that second person is," Brad replied as that had been directed to him. "Duncan Weimer," he told the two before he turned around.

"Are you putting yourself into his shoes?" Castle asked his friend when he realized he was scanning the buildings.

"Not really, just guessing where he might hide from her while drunk," Brad replied, gesturing with his thumb behind him to the door.

"Kate?" Castle asked when he saw that his wife was looking to the side. When she didn't say anything, he followed her gaze and then spotted that someone; he guessed Weimer; was leading a mare from one of the stables.

"Hey-" Brad started to say when she suddenly walked away from them.

"Leave her, she's not going to hear you," Castle said.

"And Sawyer?" Brad said.

"If he's drunk he's not likely going to go anywhere," Castle said before he started to walk after his wife.

When she neared Weimer, who was having obvious trouble controlling the mare that he was trying to lead, Beckett called, "She has an abscess you know."

Freezing the man turned to look at her and with a frown said, "Who the hell are you?"

"It doesn't ma-" Beckett started to say before she was cut off by the mare whinnying and rearing on its back legs. She shoved Weimer out of the way before reaching for the reins of the horse, having to duck out of the way as it reared again.

"Be careful," Castle couldn't help saying as he watched his wife backing up to the fence to avoid the hooves.

When the mare came down again and stopped moving Beckett watched it carefully as its eyes were wild. It stepped towards her and she murmured under her breath in Irish before she brought her right hand in front of her slowly. She was careful, not taking her eyes off the mare, before she took a step forward. The mare then walked up to her and she allowed it to sniff at her hand before it pressed down into her. " _Easy, easy girl_ ," she said softly. She scratched carefully at its neck and then paused before she tried not to let her anger overwhelm her as she said, "She's pregnant."

"Yeah, so?" Weimer said.

"Stay there," Beckett said firmly but being careful not to scare the mare. "Is she for sale?"

"I don't know," Weimer said as he was being dragged away by Castle. "Man, let go of me!"

"That's right Castle, you should," Brad said tonelessly. When the man looked at him he said, "Get out of here and tell your boss they're buying this horse." As soon as Weimer was out of earshot he said, "Will it be okay?"

"If we get her to our stables," Beckett said with a sigh. "Rick-"

"No, it's alright," Castle said. "I have my checkbook on me… and my wallet, and my card of course."

"Would you have enough cash?" Brad said in surprise.

"No but… I'm just letting her know," Castle replied with a shrug. "But who will she go to?"

"Julia, unless she doesn't want her," Beckett answered. She was in the process of taking the reins off and she had to calm the mare down as she slipped the harness off. "But it will take a while before she's ready to be ridden of course."

"And the baby?" Castle asked.

Beckett didn't answer that right away, frowning for a moment before she said, "We'll have to see… Alexis," adding the last bit rapidly as she thought of it. "Or Eliza since we would need to wait." She shook her head and then said to the two, "We'll see. Rick? Call Charlie for me and see if he'd come to take her."

"What is she?" Brad asked as Castle was going onto his phone.

"An Andalusian-Arabian mix," Beckett replied. "It's the neck and the gait that I was able to see as I was walking over here." She then looked over at her husband, watching as he hung up, and then said, "How long until he gets here?"

"You should have talked to him," Castle said jokingly. "And in about ten minutes… what about Sawyer?"

"I'll look around," Brad said. "You two can stay."

"I can watch her," Castle said to his wife as he watched her looking after Brad.

Looking at him Beckett shook her head and said, "She'd just try to follow me."

"Does she need any sort of… calming?" Castle asked as she was gently scratching on the mare's neck.

"I won't know until the abscess is taken care of," Beckett replied. "I just hope the baby is okay," she said in concern.

"She'll have a lot of help," Castle told her reassuringly.

Since they were waiting Castle and Beckett looked on while Brad was going around the different buildings, each time coming out without anyone. Just as they were about to ask him if he didn't need some help they heard a truck approaching and looked to see it was Charlie's for the stables.

"Good god," the owner said when he was close enough to the mare. "She's malnourished… is she pregnant?"

"She is," Beckett said, glancing at the mare and wondering how she hadn't seen the way the horse's ribs were visible.

"I always said this place needed to be investigated," Charlie said. "Where's Ursula?"

"You know her?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, this place is hanging by a thread," Charlie said.

"How many horses does she have?" Beckett asked.

"Six more," Brad said, walking over to them. "And they look to be in the same shape."

"Animal cruelty?" Beckett then said.

"Yeah… I'll be right back," Brad replied before he got his walkie-talkie from his belt.

"He's calling for backup," Beckett said. "We need to buy her Rick."

As Castle was leaving them Charlie turned to her and said, "You're buying this one?"

"Yeah… what about the others?" Beckett asked. "Six of them."

Taking a deep breath Charlie said, "I can make some calls here and there. Hold-"

"No, we need to get her on the way," Beckett told him. "I haven't looked at the abscess but considering how she was reacting to Weimer over there," she said when she saw Brad leading him and Ursula out from the main building. "It's bad. She needs a vet."

"You're going to have to lead her," Charlie replied.

"Alright," Beckett said before she turned to the mare. Speaking to it in Irish she began to walk backwards out of the corral, not surprised that the horse immediately began to follow her. Soon enough she turned around and walked with the mare to her side until they were at the trailer attached to Charlie's truck.

Walking away from his friend Castle went to where his wife was standing on the side of the trailer, looking in on the mare. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"I hope so," Charlie said.

"Should I go with her?" Beckett asked.

"Do-" Castle started to say.

"I've done that before myself," Charlie replied. "She'll be fine."

"Is there room for two?" Castle asked before anyone could say anything else.

"You need to take our car to the…" Beckett started to say before she trailed off, remembering why exactly they were there at the stables before she spotted someone past Charlie's shoulder.

"That's him, hold on," Brad said before running away from them, not realizing that both Castle and Beckett were with him. "Mr. Sawyer?" he asked the man who was squinting in the non-existent sun.

"What?" the man said angrily.

"I'm Chief Davis, you need to come with me," Brad said, taking him by the arm.

"How-" Castle started to say.

"Back up is on its way," Brad interrupted.

When they were alone Castle said, "He can handle talking to him."

"He'll have to wait though, as drunk as he is," Beckett replied. "And I'll be fine Rick, take the car and meet me there so we can go back to the station together."

Though he still wasn't so sure about her riding with the mare in the trailer Castle eventually nodded his head and watched her go over to it. He sighed when Charlie closed the door before he shook himself and then turned to go to his car. "Will you-" he started to say.

"I'll be careful," the owner replied reassuringly. "We'll see you there."

Watching her husband going out to the parking lot through the space in the trailer Beckett turned to the mare and sat down, reaching up to carefully pat at its neck before she began to scratch at it as the truck started. The drive to the stable was uneventful and she knew she'd made the right choice to stay with the mare as it remained calm.

"Lupita," Charlie called while he was opening the back of the trailer. "Take it easy Rick," he called as the man was running up to him. "You'll scare the horse."

As he knew that his wife would be furious with him if he did that Castle nodded and waited for her to step out.

"I'm fine," Beckett told her husband as she wasn't surprised to find him there looking for her in obvious concern.

Watching her help the mare Castle followed them to the stable at the very end and watched Lupita take the horse. "What now?" he asked.

"She'll check on him with Wes," Charlie said. "I'm going to make some phone calls and see where the other four horses will go; then pick up the two horses I bought."

"She'll be okay now," Castle told his wife.

"I know, come on," Beckett said.

"Kate? Rick?" Jessica said as she walked over to the two. "Whose mare was that?"

"Ours now but she used to belong to the Swells Bay Stables," Beckett said.

"That explains why she looks like she does," Jessica said grimly. She then looked into the stable they were in front of and frowning said, "She's pregnant?"

"She is," Beckett answered.

When they were alone and watching the vets together with the mare Castle asked, "Are we going to name her?"

"We can't really, she's not going to be our horse," Beckett replied.

"Would you want to sell the ba-" Castle asked.

"No," Beckett said, cutting him off immediately.

"Of course, I was just checking," Castle said quickly at the stern tone of her voice. He then said, "Just because we'll have a surplus of horses." When she looked at him he said, "What you've always wanted."

"And I never set out to have," Beckett replied though she couldn't help smiling.

"I love your dreams though," Castle told her with a smile in reply.

Beckett shook her head; still smiling at him as she couldn't help it at his tone; and she leaned over; kissing him tenderly on the lips before they parted. " _Thank you_ ," she told him softly.

" _It was our account_ ," Castle said. " _So our horse but you're welcome… should we buy the others_?"

"Guys?" Charlie asked them as he walked up to them.

"What about the other horses?" Beckett asked him.

"We can place them with other stables and you guys will be getting your money back," Charlie replied. "I talked to the police and Brad is going to press charges on Ursula and the two stable hands. Their horses are essentially forfeit and we're all taking them in so…"

"Thank you," Beckett said.

"I'll be back," Charlie replied. "Jessica is going with me so would you be able to take care of things here?"

"We can," Castle said. When they were alone again he turned to his wife and said, "I-" before she was kissing him firmly on the lips.

"I'm sticking with my thank you to you," Beckett told him when they'd parted.

Nodding Castle said, "I forgot about the case."

"Me too," Beckett replied. She then saw that Wes was walking over to them and asked, "How is she?"

"The abscess is fairly recent so we should be able to take care of it," the vet replied. "But we want to take a look at the baby; unfortunately we don't have the equipment here so we need to grab it from the office."

"We'll stay here with her," Beckett said immediately.

"Luckily Brad will know why we're here," Castle commented before he walked after her into the stable. He watched her scratching the mare's face gently and then ears and smiled before he said, "Kate are you-"

"We have to ask Ursula who was the sire," Beckett interrupted.

"That's true… we'll have to ask Charlie what kinds of horses they had there," Castle said, knowing she didn't really want to talk. "Would it matter?"

"Of course," Beckett said, glancing at him.

"Right, sorry," Castle said, surprised when the mare began to nibble at his sleeve. "Why-"

"I think she could smell you on me," Beckett said. " _Not sexually_ ," she quickly said in Irish as her husband looked eagerly at her though she knew he was joking.

"I thought maybe…" Castle said before he trailed off. "Do you want to see Alex and Julius before we go back?"

"Quickly unless Brad needs us back there immediately," Beckett said. She then stepped away from the door and sighed saying, "I need some water."

"Yeah, I'll go get some," Castle replied before he jogged out of the building.

Sitting down on one of the chairs against the wall underneath the tack Beckett placed her forehead on her hand and sighed as she tried to think over everything that had happened since they'd arrived at the other stables. When her husband returned shortly after she said, "Were you running around?"

"I knew… where it was," Castle said, breathless.

Smiling when he sat next to her Beckett thanked him after taking a drink and then leaned against him as she watched the mare chewing on some hay.

"Should she be eating?" Castle asked.

"They didn't leave much, they have to stagger her meals or she might overeat and…" Beckett began before trailing off. She handed her husband the bottle he'd brought her and went to the mare, scratching at its ears again as she'd been able to discern she liked.

"Hey," Charlie said, appearing in the entrance then.

"Where are they?" Beckett asked, turning and going over to him.

"They're bringing them now," Charlie said as his wife was leading two stable hands with horses. "We've got a Thoroughbred and Hanoverian."

"Good additions," Castle said.

"I called Wes and Lupita and they're bringing more vets; these two are underfed too," Charlie said. "They all need checkups so you don't need to wait if you don't want to."

"Will you call us when they finish with ours?" Beckett asked him.

"Of course," Charlie replied.

After they'd thanked the owner again Castle and Beckett went together to their horses, the two whinnying loudly seeing them a second time. They only pet them before they left and made their way back to the station to return their attention back to their case.

"We cleared Mrs. Cora," Brad said as soon as the two appeared in his office. "And we checked out all the security cameras at the field and we saw this."

Going around the chief's desk so they could see his computer screen Castle was going to comment on the view of the camera when his friend was playing the clip. When it had finished, showing someone sneaking into the building, he said, "Aren't we a little far to see anything?"

"I think you need to realize what we can see, not what we can't," Brad said before he stood up. He went over to the murder board where there was a picture of the figure about to go into the room and he said, "You two didn't ask how you could get inside the room."

"We can see right there," Beckett commented. "A pebble in the rocks was the mechanism for opening the door."

"Hard to see, I'm surprised CSU found that," Brad said as the pebble was circled with red in the picture. "And by the way that's all they found. The killer covered their tracks… insanely well and cleaned up. They had the time for that of course which doesn't help us in the slightest."

"So what is it that we can see?" Beckett asked to get him back to the subject.

"Tech took a look at this and measuring the building they determined the killer is about five eight to five ten," Brad answered, pointing to the figure in the picture.

"Could be you love," Castle said.

Glancing at him Beckett said, though she knew he was joking, "Luckily Rebecca is my alibi."

"I could see you there on the fence too," Brad commented. "Also, tech cleared up the footage and zoomed in." He put a picture up on the board and said, "You can just see it."

"What the hell," Castle said when he saw what the killer was holding in their left hand. "The syringe?"

"It would explain the dosage," Brad said, nodding.

"And why they couldn't hide it on them," Beckett said. "And why there was bruising. Anything else?"

"CSU almost thought they got footprints around the building but they're on the wrong side from what the footage showed us," Brad replied. "They took some casts but I'm not sure we'd really be using them for the case."

"How's Sawyer?" Beckett asked.

"Sobering up," Brad said. "Ursula Morando is under arrest and so is Weimer but of course not for the case. And even if Sawyer isn't the killer then he'll be arrested too." He grew serious and asked them, "How's the horse?"

"She's being taken care of," Beckett replied with a slight sigh. "But she's lucky we got to her in time."

"You'll have two horses now," Brad said.

Before either she or her husband could answer that Beckett's phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket to find it was Charlie. "Do you mind?" she asked the chief. When he shook his head, she answered and put it on speaker saying, "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, they just finished with her and I need your permission to allow them to take her to the clinic to keep for the procedure; they want her there overnight to keep an eye on her," the stable owner replied.

"Of course," Beckett said. "But besides that, will she be okay? The baby?"

"Its fine, they did a quick check on it and since you got to her when you did both it and the mare will be okay," Charlie replied.

Reaching over to place his hand on her back Castle watched Beckett remove her hand from her face and he then said to Charlie, "When will she be back at the stables?"

"It depends; tomorrow at the earliest I told them to call you and let you know since it's your horse," he replied.

"Thank you for calling us," Beckett said then as she noticed that Wade was standing at the doorway to the office. After she and Castle had said goodbye to Charlie they looked together over at the officer.

"Is he in any better shape?" Brad asked his officer.

"A little, he said he'll talk to you now chief," Wade said.

"Where was he when we were there?" Castle asked then after the officer had left.

"The loft of the barn," Brad replied. "Bernier was looking around with the others once we left and found a number of bottles there and some beer spilled around; fresh. Are you going to join me?"

"If you want us there," Beckett said first.

When the chief nodded they started to leave the office and Castle held his wife's arm to keep her back before he said, "When are you going to tell Julia?"

"When we get home, I'm not calling her now," Beckett said when she realized why he'd asked that exactly. She smiled and then said, "As soon as we get home," not surprised when he agreed with her by nodding before they continued after Brad to the box.

* * *

"That was fast," Martha said as she watched Julia walk up the steps to the patio.

"Yeah, they're gonna go out to dinner so I had to come back," the girl said with a smile. Julia shook out her umbrella as her grandmother instructed her to; though it wasn't raining anymore and the sun was just barely peeking out from the thinning clouds. She then bit her lower lip once she was inside the house and after she'd hugged her sister she said, "Something happened with Mommy and Daddy while I was with Mari and her family."

"You had a feeling that it did?" Martha asked.

"Yeah," Julia said, relieved that she didn't sound as if she doubted her.

"But you never know what happens do you?" Martha then said.

Sighing Julia sat on the couch and said, "It wasn't really bad but Mommy is worried… I think it's about Daddy."

"Call Mommy," Eliza suggested.

"But what if she's working on the case now? I think she is because I don't think she's worried so much anymore," Julia said.

"Try kiddo," Martha said. She watched as her middle granddaughter called on her own cell phone and wasn't surprised when she frowned. "You know what that means darling."

Sighing Julia said, "Yeah." Something seemed to come to her then and she asked brightly, "What if I go to the station?"

"I don't think you can do that," Martha said.

"No I could, I just into the lobby and ask if I can see my parents," Julia told her earnestly as she got back up. "I'll ride my bike and then go!"

"Wait, Julia," Martha said firmly.

"Please Gram," Julia begged her, holding her hands together even. "I need to find out I can't wait for them to come back home."

Though she was going to protest Martha finally sighed and said, "Alright but if it starts raining you'll turn around and come right back home."

"Oh I will, thank you Gram," Julia said quickly, hugging her tightly. She then went to the foyer and grabbed her rain slicker and put that on before she saw her sister was with her.

"I'm gonna go too," Eliza said firmly before a hand appeared on her shoulder.

"I can't let you do that Eliza," Martha told her.

"Gram," Eliza protested as she turned around to look at her, stretching the normally one syllable word into two.

"I'm sorry Eliza but your parents would be incredibly mad if I let you go," Martha said. "We'll wait for your sister to come back."

Waiting for her little sister to protest that Julia only moved when she saw that she wasn't going to say anything and grabbed her rain hat to take with her just in case. She hurried into the garage and put on her helmet before she looked at her grandmother and sister who had stepped inside. "I'll ride on the sidewalk and then I'll come back as fast as I can."

"Do you have your phone?" Martha asked as she watched her getting onto her bike, opening the garage door for her.

"Yep, thanks Gram," Julia said. "I'll tell Mommy and Daddy I didn't let you say no."

"Thank you," Martha laughed slightly. She watched as Julia rode away then and sighed saying, "I really hope your parents won't mind."

"No they won't," Eliza said. "Can we play another game Gram?" she asked.

"Sure," Martha replied as she quickly closed the garage door and led both the dogs and Eliza back inside, hoping she'd be alright on her trip even though the station wasn't too far away.

* * *

"Mr. Sawyer," Brad said as he was the first in the room. He sat with Beckett across the table while Castle leaned against the wall behind them and asked, "Any soberer than you were before?"

With a grunt Sawyer looked up at them and asked, "What is it?"

"Do you know who this woman is?" Brad asked, sliding across the picture of the vic.

"Oh yeah… Nancy," Sawyer replied with a smile. He then grew serious and said, "Why?"

"Did she tell you that was her name?" Beckett asked.

"Sure," Sawyer said. "I guess I shouldn't get so nostalgic," he replied with a sigh. "She let me feel her up but that was all I got before she stopped me."

"Felt… maybe you should go back to the beginning," Castle said as he could almost see that his wife and Brad felt the same confusion that he did.

"Okay, Saturday afternoon a lady came in," Sawyer began, drinking the coffee in front of him. "Her," he added, nodding to the picture.

"Came in where?" Beckett asked.

"Oh, the stable where I was," Sawyer replied. "At work. And she just started asking me questions about… a kid and thorns-"

"The Thornes?" Castle interrupted.

"Nah, thorns like in roses," Sawyer said. "She was obviously high so I just told her what I could and then she started getting all… sexy. At first I wasn't sure 'cause when I first saw her I thought she was a dude. But then I went along with it and we started making out before I felt up her tits and then she stopped. She tried to ask some questions again but I couldn't answer so she left."

"What were you doing before she came up to you?" Brad asked.

"Blacking some horses' hooves," Sawyer said with a shrug. "Why?"

"Where were you earlier today; between eleven and twelve thirty?" Brad then said.

"At work," Sawyer replied.

Without a word Brad stood up and followed Castle and Beckett out before they stepped more into the bull pen before he said, "What do you think?"

"If he felt her up that would explain the fingerprints," Beckett said.

"And the blackening on her body," Castle said. "But she never took a shower or anything?"

"She might not have," Brad said. "But what about the questioning?"

"I don't know," Beckett said first. "But I don't think she was high, she was searching for something. Something involving a kid."

"Yeah that bothers me too," Brad said. "I'm going to go ahead and check on his alibi. Can you two get in touch with Yearling, talk to her about anything the vic might have been searching for?"

"Of course," Beckett said before she and her husband watched him walk to holding where Ursula was.

"What are you thinking?" Castle asked, watching his wife.

"I think we need to look into her computer," Beckett replied.

"You're thinking that whatever she was searching for might be there?" Castle asked.

"Who were her contacts there," Beckett said. "Maybe there's something about a child; who knows."

"It's worth considering," Castle said, nodding his head in agreement.

They were just about to turn around to go to the office when they were stopped by Rice who hurried over to them. "There's someone here to see you," she told them.

"Who?" Castle asked, looking startled.

As her husband was asking that Beckett had turned to look out the window to the lobby and she saw soon after who it was. "Julia? Peter?" she asked in shock at the sight of their daughter.


	13. Didn't Hear A Sound (Part 2)

"Hey Julia, wait up," a voice said behind her as she was almost out of her neighborhood.

"Hey, are you riding around?" Julia asked once she'd stopped her bike and her dance partner was next to her on his mountain bike.

"Yeah, my mom didn't want me to but I asked 'cause I was really bored," Peter said. "You're lucky you have a sister."

Shrugging Julia wanted to say goodbye to him as she wanted to go but he was speaking before she could.

"Where are you going?" Peter then asked.

"Oh… um I'm gonna go to the station," Julia said after she realized that she couldn't really lie to him.

"The police station?" Peter said in surprise.

"Yeah my parents are working on a case but… I just wanna check on them," Julia said.

"Cool, can I come?" Peter asked. "I never got to see the station before."

"That's good though," Julia said. She thought for a moment before she said, "Okay, come on." She sat back on her bike and they rode together to the station though she had to lead her friend as he'd never been. "There," she said when they stopped at the street across from it. "We better walk; you're not supposed to ride on the sidewalk."

"How come you were?" Peter asked as they got off their bikes.

"I wanted to go really fast in case it started to rain," Julia replied. "Or else I'd have to turn back around."

"Oh," Peter said before they were crossing the street and coming up to the station. "What about our bikes?"

"We can lock them here, do you have yours?" Julia asked. When he shook his head she said, "That's okay, we can share mine." And with his help she locked up their bikes with the one chain she had. "Okay, now we just go inside and we ask the officer at the window if my parents can talk to me," she told her partner as she led the way over to the door. When she opened it and they were inside she was a little surprised when Peter stepped up close to her and she looked at him before she turned to the window on the other side of the lobby.

"Hello Julia," the officer said, smiling at the girl who she immediately recognized. "Here to see your parents?"

"Hi Officer Rice," Julia said, going to the window quickly, hearing Peter literally scurrying after her. "This is my friend and dance partner Peter he came with me."

"Hi," Peter said slightly shyly.

"And we are here to see my parents," Julia said. "I wanted to talk to them really quick. Can I?"

"Hold on, they might be talking to someone," Rice said before she left.

Julia tried to look through the window and into the bull pen before she heard her mother's voice saying her name in surprise before she said Peter's. "Mommy!" she exclaimed before she realized that the officers past the window were turning to looking at her. "Hi," she said to who she could see, recognizing everyone.

"Julia, what are you doing here," Beckett said as she stepped out into the lobby with Castle close behind her. "And you Peter." She looked around and said, "On your own?"

"I begged Gram, she had to let me 'cause I wasn't going to let her say no," Julia explained. "But are you okay Daddy?" she then said, looking at him.

"I'm fine," Castle said. He'd been about to ask why she was worried about him when he guessed, "Did you think I was hurt?"

"I thought…" Julia said before she glanced at the window and saw that some of the officers were looking out at them. She closed her mouth and then looked at her mother feeling her cheeks turning red.

"Come on," Beckett told her, reaching out and taking her hand so they could go inside.

"I can come too?" Peter asked as Castle ushered him after the two.

"We're not going to leave you in the lobby," he told the boy.

"Thanks," Peter said before they were in the bull pen and he was looking around with his mouth slightly opened in awe.

"If the chief comes out let him know we're in the interview room," Castle said to Wade and Rice who they were passing.

"Is this where you talk to suspects?" Peter asked before he was sitting on an armchair.

"Not really," Beckett said. She then turned her attention to Julia who was sitting next to her on the couch and said, "Tell us sweetie."

"I got a weird feeling when I was walking home from Mari's and then I guessed maybe it was you Daddy," Julia explained. "'Cause it wasn't anything bad but something happened."

"Okay well we were going to tell you about this when we got home later," Castle said.

"But I guess we'll need to tell you now," Beckett said before she got her phone out of her pocket.

"Whose horse is that?" Julia asked, looking at the picture there.

"Well if you want her and will give Marie to your sister; yours," Beckett answered.

"But…" Julia said, her eyes growing wide. "How?"

Castle and Beckett then explained how they were suddenly the owners of a pregnant mare and when they finished he said, "But it's up to you."

"Well… I couldn't ride her now couldn't I?" Julia asked.

"Not just yet," Beckett replied.

"Then I think I want to take her," Julia said. "Oh, I can't until she has her baby huh?"

"Right," Castle told her. "But don't worry as soon as she can your mom will make sure she's ready to ride."

"I hope so," Julia said. "Can I go see her?"

Beckett shared a look with her husband before she told their oldest about how the mare was at the clinic. "But she's being cared for so you don't need to worry about her too much," she finished.

"I still wanna see her," Julia said firmly.

"Maybe tomorrow," Beckett said.

"But I can't, there's school and then dance class," Julia protested.

"Maybe," Castle began. "We can take her."

"Now?" Beckett asked.

Before anyone could say anything to that there was a knock at the door and Brad stepped in saying, "Guys? I need to talk to you two."

"Can they go in the break room?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Brad said, smiling at the kids. "Hey Peter."

"Hi," the boy said a little shyly though he knew the chief.

"Here," Beckett said, giving the two water bottles when they were in the room. "Sit at the table and we'll be right back."

"Could we go now?" Julia asked before her parents left.

"We'll see," Beckett said, glancing at her husband. They then left and walked over to the office, seeing that Brad was holding something up with gloves on his hands.

"Julia," Peter whispered. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," Julia replied. "Oh, I think that's where my parents sit when they're here," she told her friend, nodding to an empty desk with a chair next to it.

"Cool but your mom said to sit… Julia!" Peter protested when she stepped out into the doorway and then just slightly past it.

Not saying anything to him Julia rushed through the bullpen before she got to the doorway of the chief's office. She leaned against the window to the side of it, trying to listen in on what they were talking about inside.

"Weimer said that he got this off of Sawyer when they were fighting about the vic," Brad was saying.

"He saw her too?" Castle asked.

"Not really," Brad replied. "He saw someone but never saw her exactly. He thought the vic was a man too. Ironic how many people are saying that about her and she wanted to become a man. But he says he got it from him and Sawyer got it from her."

"And have you read it?" Beckett said.

Brad didn't say anything to that and simply opened the paper to allow them to read what he had once he'd opened it himself with gloves.

"It's a map," Castle said the moment he saw what was on the paper.

"How can you be so sure?" Brad said.

"Because it's got a grid lay out…" Castle said. "I don't think it's the stables though where the x is… what?"

"No exclamations about a treasure map?" Beckett said to him.

"No," Castle said, shaking his head. "But it's here; if she was looking around town then it's got to be here."

"We'll have to try and look into that but I want to get Bernier on it; you know he's good with maps," Brad said. "And I heard what you two were talking about in the room; go ahead."

"Right in the middle of the case?" Castle asked.

"Yes, because everything we're doing we have under control," Brad answered. "You just need to come back."

"We won't take that long," Castle said as he looked at his wife and then nodded. "I guess we better tell Julia the good news."

"I think she already knows," Brad said. When the two looked at him in confusion he nodded behind them before they turned.

"Julia," Beckett said, going out to her.

"Sorry," the girl whispered when her parents stood in front of her. "So we can go?"

"Yes, let's go now before we lose the chance," Castle said.

"Oh, Peter's still over there," Julia said as they walked back to the break room.

"Does his mother know he's here?" Beckett asked.

Shaking her head Julia said, "He was riding down the street when he saw me and then came with me."

"I'll give her a call," Castle said.

"What about our bikes," Julia said to her mother.

"You're going to need to ride back if that's alright," Beckett told her.

"Yeah that's fine," Julia said rapidly. By then they were in the break room and she said eagerly, "You get to come with us to see my horse!"

"Cool but my mom…" Peter started to say.

"I just got in touch with her," Castle said. "And she's fine with you coming out here but apparently you have a phone on you?"

"Oh," Peter said sheepishly as they were walking through the bull pen. "I forgot."

"I told your mom that probably happened and she agreed," Castle said.

"So… you work here?" Peter said, looking around again.

"Not all the time, just when we're asked to," Beckett replied. "I guess you like it."

"Yeah… do you keep suspects there?" Peter asked as he pointed to holding.

"We do," Castle said. "But there's not much to see there. The horse though, that's something to see."

Julia smiled and they went together to the parking lot and then to her parents' car. When they were in the back she said, "I hope this is okay."

"It is, if we didn't want to go we would have sent you two back home," Beckett said, looking back at them as Castle started to drive to the clinic where they would take their dogs.

"You don't need to be there?" Peter asked.

"That's what Brad told us," Castle assured them both though Julia had already heard that.

Julia wanted to ask about the map but she was a little embarrassed about her desire to work on the case when she obviously couldn't so instead she said, "Can I name her?"

"Of course, if she's going to be your horse than you can," Castle said first.

"But you can wait to do that," Beckett added. "You don't need to rush into picking."

"Okay," Julia replied before she looked out the window and could see they were getting nearer to the clinic.

As soon as they had reached the building Castle and Beckett took the two to the stable in the back for when horses were cared for there. After speaking to the vet taking care of the mare they were allowed to go into the building though Beckett and Julia went first to make sure the horse would be okay, the girl looking for her mare eagerly as they walked past some empty stalls.

"Is that her?" Julia asked, almost gasping when she saw the dun colored horse looking out of a stall.

"That's her," Beckett said, smiling at her daughter. "What do you think?"

"She's beautiful," Julia breathed. "Can I pet her?" she asked, unsure of that as her mother had stopped them a little bit away from it.

"Let me see how she's doing," Beckett replied. She then walked up to the mare and held out her hand, just in case, before the horse pressed against it. Scratching at the mare's ears she said to Julia, "Come here sweetie but slowly."

Nodding once the girl walked carefully up to her mother and the horse before Beckett stepped away a little. She already knew what that meant so she held out her hand carefully. Holding her breath almost she watched as the mare bowed her head and then raised her head. "What does that mean?" she whispered to her mother.

"Scratch her head," Beckett said. "But stay away from her mouth."

"Okay," Julia said, guessing that meant that the horse had accepted her. She smiled when the horse whickered slightly as she was scratching as close to its forehead as she could. "Mommy?" she then asked.

"Watch out sweetie I'm going to go into the stall," Beckett told her. "What is it?" she then asked as she was standing next to the horse.

"I wanna name her Charlotte," Julia said.

"Oh?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah but I want to call her Lottie; I like that name," Julia added.

"It sounds like a good idea," Beckett said. "Come here."

"In the stall?" Julia asked in surprise. When her mother nodded she breathed out and walked in, trying not to be nervous as she touched Lottie's neck.

"Calm down Julia, she accepts you," Beckett said, watching her daughter closely.

"I wish I could hug her," the girl confessed, looking up at her mother. She was startled when Beckett went over to a short step ladder, setting it next to the horse. "Thanks," she said with a wide smile. She got to the top of it quickly and then wrapped her arms around Lottie's neck, being as gentle as possible.

Beckett bit at her lower lip slightly as she watched her daughter rub her cheek gently against the coat of her horse, touched by the scene. She was going to comment; as she wanted the girl to know what she was thinking; when her daughter was speaking before she could.

"Mommy she doesn't have a neck like other horses," Julia said.

Sighing Beckett said, "I didn't want you to know but she's a little underfed."

"But… the pony," Julia said.

"They checked it and it's fine," Beckett assured her. "And we'll feed them both now don't worry."

"What about the pony though? You're gonna have two of them," Julia pointed out.

"We were thinking of giving one of them to Alexis," Castle explained as he and Peter were walking over to them.

"Then shouldn't Lottie go to 'lexis?" Julia asked.

"She's not here and she doesn't ride as much as you," Beckett said. "So I'm sure she won't mind waiting for one of the ponies to grow older so she can ride it."

"You named your horse Lottie?" Castle said.

"Yeah, for Charlotte," Julia replied before she looked at her dance partner. "Peter?"

"Yeah… horses make me nervous," the boy said as he'd stopped a little away from them.

"I'll take him outside," Castle said.

"We'll be right out; these two need to go back," Beckett told him. She turned to Julia and watched as her daughter slid the step ladder down a little and watched her press her cheek to the obvious bulge where the baby was. "They're guessing she has about a month or two to go before it's born," she said, knowing her daughter was going to ask.

"Can I be here when it is?" Julia asked in a rush as she wasn't sure what her mother was going to say in response to that.

"Of course," Beckett said. When her daughter looked at her with wide eyes she told her, "Say goodbye to Lottie, we need to go." After her daughter had done so and was outside the stall she scratched at the mare's neck and closed the door behind her. "And I'm letting you go because it's almost the same as seeing a kitten born plus she is your horse," she told her. When Julia just looked at her she smiled and explained, "We'll put your name on her papers once we fill them out."

"Thanks," Julia said. They were stepping outside of the stable and she sucked in a deep breath of air when she saw who her father was talking to, looking quickly up at her mother.

"Meredith," Beckett said as she and Julia had joined the group. "Did you bring a pet with you?"

"No, I was just telling Ricky here that I was looking for one for my fiancé," Meredith replied. She smiled and said, "I'm looking out for a Chesapeake Bay Retriever; he's always wanted one; so I was at the shelter next door when I saw you there."

"Mommy, Daddy I'm thirsty can we go back now?" Julia said then.

"Excuse us," Castle said before he told his ex a quick goodbye. "Kate-" he started to say in a low voice as they were walking away.

" _We can talk about this later, or not at all_ ," Beckett interrupted, giving him a pointed look.

Castle nodded and when they reached the car he drove as quickly as he legally could to the station, keeping an eye on his wife before he was parking in front of the building.

"How come we came this way?" Julia asked when they were out of the car.

"So you two could get to your bikes faster," Beckett told her, taking her hand. She watched with her and Peter as Castle unlocked the bikes and the boy went to get his before she looked at her daughter. "Don't say a word about the case to your sister," she said.

"I won't," Julia promised. "But… what happened?"

"We'll talk about it later," Beckett promised, not wanting to talk about the case in front of her friend. She hugged her tightly and said, "Though I wish you hadn't come with it rainy today I'm glad you did."

"Me too," Julia said, embracing her back hard. "Lizzy wanted to come with me." When her mother paused in letting her go she smiled and continued with, "But Gram said no."

"I'm glad to hear that," Beckett replied finally letting Julia go. "Be careful, both of you, going back and if it starts to rain you're walking your bikes."

Not surprised when the two kids started to protest Castle said, "She's right, if your brakes get wet you know that they're not going to work that well. You better walk and put on your rain hat; your hoodie Peter."

"I will," the boy said with a nod. "Thanks for letting me come inside."

"Not a problem," Castle said first. "We'll have to give you a full tour someday."

"Cool," Peter replied.

"We'll see," Beckett said.

"Bye Daddy, thanks for not getting mad at me," Julia said as she hugged her father.

"Oh no, I'm proud of you for doing that," Castle said. "You rode on the sidewalks here didn't you?"

"All the way," Julia said with a smile as they let go of each other.

"Good girl," Castle said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Do the same on the way back?"

"We will," Julia promised before hugging her mother again. "Thanks for Lottie," she said, looking at both her parents.

"Thank your mom," Castle said quickly. "She saw her."

"You're welcome," Beckett said quickly before Julia could say anything. "Go on home okay?"

"Yeah," Julia said before she and Peter put on their helmets and got their bikes before walking across the street. She waved to her parents and then rode with her partner once they were on the sidewalk again.

"So that's where your parents work," Peter commented after they were out of sight from the station.

"Yep, why?" Julia asked him.

"Your mom had a gun this whole time," Peter whispered then after he'd slowed down and she followed his lead.

"Yeah, she needs it for when they're out of the station," Julia said with a nod. When he just looked at her she shrugged and said, "She's been a detective for as long as I remember so she had a gun but she hates hugging me when she's wearing it. Me and my sisters."

"Can I ask you something?" Peter then said after they were going slowly together for a while.

"Sure," Julia said, wondering at his tone of voice.  
"Your dad isn't your real dad, is he?" Peter said. And as soon as he'd finished speaking he knew he'd said something wrong as she visibly bristled.

"He is my real dad… he's just not my birth dad," Julia replied, trying to control her anger as she knew her partner wasn't sure how to word that exactly. She looked at him and when she saw him obviously looking like he was going to say something else she told him, "I dunno who that is."

"No?" Peter said with a frown.

"Nope," Julia said. "And since he didn't want to be in my life it doesn't matter. My dad does want to so… he's my dad." She then smiled and said, "I am Julia Castle. We-ell Beckett-Castle but yeah, he's my dad."

"You don't ever wonder?" Peter asked.

"Nope," Julia repeated. When he looked at her in surprise she said, "I told you, I don't care, I have a dad already."

Before either of them could say anything else a car pulled up next to them, someone calling Julia's name.

"Oh no," she groaned when she glanced back and saw who it was.

"Hello, you two," Meredith said as she stopped next to them. "I saw you riding Julia and wanted to offer you and…"

"Peter," the boy said slowly, glancing at Julia.

"A ride, it might rain," Meredith said with a smile.

"No thank you, we're almost to our homes anyways," Julia replied. She braced herself for the woman to offer again but when she just said she'd see her on Wednesday and left she breathed out hard.

"Who _is_ that lady?" Peter asked.

"Let's keep going," Julia said. "I don't want her to come back when she sees we're not moving." After they'd been riding for a while she explained, "That's Alexis' mom."

"Oh… so that means she used to be married to your dad," Peter said. When Julia nodded he said, "How come she's here? I never saw her before."

"I dunno… I don't think she really likes my mom," she answered.

"She doesn't," Peter said. He then explained; when he knew Julia was going to wonder; "When your dad and I were outside and she came up to us she said something about she was glad your parents weren't really attached at the hip. But she said it really meanly; I don't think your dad was happy about that."

"No wonder he looked mad," Julia said with a nod. She sighed and said, "Hopefully she changes her mind about coming to the dinner later."

"So what about their case?" Peter asked when they had reached her neighborhood.

Julia smiled and said, "I'll tell you a little bit about it but you can't tell anyone; not even your mom."

"Scouts honor… whatever that means," Peter said before he and Julia looked at each other and burst out laughing.

When they'd calmed down Julia told him about the map; the safest thing she could tell him; wondering if her parents were having any luck with it back at the station.

* * *

"Well, other than her tone," Beckett was saying to Castle as she'd asked him what Meredith had said outside the clinic. "She's right, we usually are together. But do you buy her story about being there for a dog?"

"I do, Alexis mentioned it to me as apparently she couldn't find that breed anywhere in Italy; at least not to buy or adopt," Castle explained. "But the timing is suspicious."

"I almost thought we were going to switch for a moment there," Beckett said jokingly. "But if she's checking us out… would Alexis have mentioned we have a case?"

"Likely, not knowing that she would try and see us," Castle said. "What if-"

"Don't build theory about what she's doing," Beckett said, covering his mouth with her hand. "It doesn't matter and she'll be gone… sooner rather than later. Let's go back inside because I'm sure Brad has something by now."

When the two appeared in the bull pen the chief called them to his office before he said, "How's the mare?"

"It's Lottie now," Beckett answered. "And she's fine. What about you?"

"We're having some difficulties with the map," Brad said with a sigh. "If it even is a map. Come on." He led them to the conference room which was in between the interview room and break room and told them, "Here's the Hamptons."

"You're really going street by street?" Castle asked as a huge map was stretched over the table and chairs and still hung off it.

"We will, we just need to work together on this," Brad said before he watched as Hutchinson and Bernier came in. "The five of us should be able to at least make a dent in this map."

"Did you look at this map itself?" Castle asked.

"Repeatedly, why?" Brad said.

"There has to be something to narrow it down," Castle said. "Did you try where the street the stable is on?"

"First thing and no, it doesn't match," Brad said.

"Did you try the angled streets?" Beckett asked though she had a feeling of the answer already.

"There are a number of them in the area," Brad said. "About…"

"Eleven that we found," Bernier said as the chief was looking at him and Hutchinson. "But six of those match the drawn map closely enough."

"Fields?" Castle and Beckett then said at the same time.

"Three of those," Brad said. "And by the way we did that on this map we didn't have this out here just for what we're going to do now."

"Where are the three fields?" Beckett asked them.

"Here, here and here," Hutchinson replied, pointing them out.

"Where's the transfer you were using?" Castle said. When Brad handed it to him he set the copy of the map down and covered it with the transfer. "Well this isn't going to help you," he said.

"Why?" Brad asked as he was looking down at the papers.

"The program you used cut off the curve on the street one lot down from wherever the x is," Beckett said, pointing it out. "Look for the curve and you should find it."

"I know where it is Chief," Bernier told them then. "East of Lilac Avenue; on Pine Grove Way."

"You're right," Brad said, looking at it on the map. "I remember we had to go to a home there a couple times for a domestic dispute but it's not where the x is."

Taking the transfer Castle set it down right where Bernier said it was and found that though the map there didn't match the one under it was close. "Any idea what house this is?"

"The domestic house was 1035… so that's 1063," Brad said before he went over to his office, Castle and Beckett following. As soon as he was in front of his desk he typed in the address and said, "This… no."

"Yes, it is. Frank Fletcher," Beckett read behind him. "There's no way that's a coincidence."

Typing out the name in the database Brad said, "It's not, they're cousins… and he worked with our vic."

"At the bookstore?" Castle asked.

"He was her employee but he was fired," Brad read off. "It doesn't say why."

Castle got out of the way as his friend was grabbing for the phone on the desk and he said, "Fletcher or the vic's wife?"

Beckett wasn't surprised when the chief was soon after talking to the latter and she listened in on his half of the conversation before she said, "Does she know him?"

"She did and according to Yearling he was stealing the profits from their store," Brad replied.

"Why wasn't-" Castle began.

"He paid her back and they were squared away; as she put it," Brad said. "But she then told me that he was trying to have McGale help him with a treasure hunt."

"That doesn't make any sense," Beckett said. "His house is marked as the x."

"Unless that was the idea… or it was a scavenger hunt," Brad said.

"That makes more sense," Castle said. "Look at all the different places she went to."

"But the note, the hidden room?" Beckett said.

Opening his mouth Castle then realized that she was right and he sighed before he said, "Alright, you make a good point. What do you think?"

"I'm thinking we need to go over to his home," Brad said, hanging up the phone he'd been using again. "He's not answering."

"Cell phone?" Castle asked.

"Maybe he's out?" Beckett then suggested.

"I'll put an APB out for him but we're checking on him right now," Brad said as he stood up. "You're still armed?"

"Of course," Beckett replied before they were walking out of the office. She handed the car keys to Castle; since he'd handed them to her; and as he was driving she said, "What do you think of him?"

"I'm not really sure, this kind of came out of nowhere and I'm trying to cope with this to figure it out," Castle said. He glanced at her; as they were waiting for a light to change; and said, "And yes that's partly because my scavenger hunt idea didn't really work out. But why the map? Why the report?"

Sighing Beckett said, "I don't know we have to wait for tech to look at her computer and e-mails."

"Good thing Brad read our minds on that," Castle said. He then looked at his wife and said, "I never thought she'd come to see us."

Smiling at the memory of spotting Julia in the lobby Beckett said, "No but we should have realized that she might one day. And Peter seemed to be awed."

"Think she'll tell him anything about the case?" Castle asked.

"She'll tell him about the map but that's it," Beckett replied. When her husband looked at her she said, "I know her, she'll only talk about the map because she knows it's not that important."

"Smart," Castle said with a nod. "You're sure she can't help us?"

"I'm sure," Beckett said with a smile. She reached over then and gently squeezed his hand before he responded to her saying, "I'm glad she came though."

"Me too," Castle said, nodding in agreement. He had to let go of her hand as they were reaching the house and he parked behind Brad before they got out to join him on the corner of the intersection. "Are you going in tactically?" he asked.

"That depends on Mr. Fletcher," Brad said. "But with that you're still behind Beckett."

With a nod Castle walked behind his wife as they made their way over to the house, not surprised when the two ahead of him were searching all around, doing the same himself in the end. As they walked up the path he studied the home, one story and very unassuming, and he wanted to say something about that but Brad was reaching the door.

"Beckett," the chief whispered.

A second after he'd started to say her name Beckett saw what he did and she withdrew her gun, nodding when he turned to her. He pushed open the door the rest of the way and she followed him before he was stopping abruptly when they spotted what there was in the living room.

"Put the knife down! Put it down!" Brad yelled, Beckett joining him in commanding that immediately.

"I didn't kill him!" Judy Fletcher almost screamed as she stood up hurriedly, dropping the knife that was in her hand. "I didn't I found him… please…" she sobbed as Brad handcuffed her.

Moving to let Brad and Beckett take the woman outside Castle looked down at the body of the woman's cousin, sprawled on the floor and stabbed multiple times over his entire back.


	14. Wish That I'd Stayed Home

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Really happy to get the feedback I did for the last chapter so let me get to my thank yous for them. Mb (Great to see that you're still reading and also are trying to catch up though I'm not surprised you've got stuff making you busy of course. Though it is great to know that you're reading; I thought you might be; and of course too that you're loving the series. And yeah, I figured since the show wasn't doing it I would definitely have to show Castle and Beckett with their family as I too knew they would be, so nice that you think that too! And it's not a comfort zone, more how ideas come to me I just let them pop into my head. I don't like to go against that as it feels like I force myself to write and that's not why I started writing this story of course. But amazing you're going to try and read the earlier stories as well as start this story from the beginning that's quite a feat and I hope that won't be too much trouble for you! And don't worry about reviewing, like I said I know things can get busy for people so knowing you're reading every once in a while now is nice and I do appreciate you reviewing when you can get the chance. But I do hope that one day you can catch up, just so you won't need to be concerned about reading so much! You're very welcome for sharing and it'll definitely be Caskett and family always here!),  
TORONTOSUN (I was pleased to see that you liked how Beckett had her moment with the horses and also Castle being there. And I'm happy of course you thought both halves of the chapter were good writing; I do try my best! I'm so glad that you liked how I was writing Julia talking about Castle being her dad, since I did want to convey that to her he definitely was and wanted her to say it out loud.),  
MsNYC (I wasn't surprised you mentioned you were hoping that Julia wouldn't get into trouble going instead of calling. Also the same that you were wondering who the victim was looking for, though I was a bit surprised you'd mentioned you were wondering if her wife had any idea though it does makes sense, lol, slipped my mind. It didn't surprise me to see you're not sure about whether Fletcher is a killer, I figured the ending of the chapter would do that. And not surprised again that you're worried about Meredith and that you think she's up to something; I definitely thought readers would think that after reading the last chapter. It was interesting to see your reaction to Peter's question though I can tell you with certainty that he was just curious about what he asked. And also interesting that you think Meredith knows about Julia's past though you are right it is something to think about. Nice to see you thought it was great writing as usual!) and  
vetgirlmx (I had to laugh a bit at your reaction to the ending of the chapter but your comments on what Fletcher did was no surprise to me. But people sometimes do that even though it makes them look really guilty. Really happy that you thought the chapter was very interesting, I definitely wanted it to be of course. And it was kinda nice to surprise you with the mess at the stables but not exactly since it was that kind of subject if that makes sense. But I wasn't surprised to see that you would have gone on the topic concerning the stable hand and owner more, I was expecting that reaction from you. But with Beckett not going on about it I wanted to show her concern was with the horses and she was going to leave the getting justice part to Brad. And yeah, I definitely had to make sure that the horses would be taken care of so not surprised you noted that or that they're in good hands. But yeah, the family will basically all have horses eventually, lol. I had to laugh at what you said about Julia having tenacity but I was very happy that you said she had that. And yeah, lol, I wanted to convey that she was going to go no matter what. I am glad that you mentioned Peter going with her, and that helping when Meredith came up to them. And concerning her it was great seeing your reaction to her showing up as I had meant for that to happen since of course she's not staying at the house with them and always there of course. Not surprised that you half bought how she said she wanted to adopt a dog with the timing bothering you of course and you'll have to see if she lets it go already. I was a bit startled that Peter's question scared you to death but after that initial reaction I could understand why you would think that. I wasn't surprised you thought someone who wanted to be mean to ask that so you saw what I was doing with Peter asking. I didn't want it to be asked by someone trying to be mean so it seemed he would be best since for some reason I couldn't imagine Mari doing it… maybe because she knew Castle from when she was young or something, lol, I don't know. But I was so, so pleased that you thought it was better that Peter asked. And it was nice reading you thought Julia's answer to his question was perfect as well as pure truth 'cause I thought she would think that after all the years she's spent as his daughter. Not surprised you thought the plot thickened in this one or that you don't think that Fletcher did it; thought you might. But I'm really happy you can't wait to see what happens with that and now you don't need to anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and was very grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Tired of Midnight Blue_ by George Harrison, from his album _Extra Texture (Read All About It)_.

Wish That I'd Stayed Home

"This could be it," Brad commented. He glanced at Castle and Beckett behind him from the room where they'd placed Fletcher and said, "Seriously, it could be. She was standing above the body remember; the same knife used in her hand."

"It could be," Castle said, watching his wife.

"He's right but you do realize it could go either way," Beckett said as the chief turned to her.

"I think this is why you two are here," Brad said. "But what were you like back in the city?"

"I'd push that she might have been set up," Castle said. "She'd say no unless something happened to change her mind."

"I'd still consider it," Beckett protested. "But yeah, I would need something to prove it wasn't her."

Brad wanted to remind them about what they'd seen in the house but he knew it would be pointless to do so. So instead he breathed out slightly and told them, "You two can go in there with me but I'm leading."

"We usually let you," Castle told his friend.

"Alright," Brad said simply before he left observation with them and went first into the room. "Ms. Fletcher," he said once the door was closed behind the three of them. "I'm sure you know why we're here."

"I didn't kill my cousin," Fletcher insisted roughly. "I loved him, he was family."

"Then why don't you tell us about your cousin himself?" Brad asked as he let Castle and Beckett sit at the table.

"He was… look I know you must have heard about what he did to Ellie but he paid them back," Fletcher said earnestly.

"We know already," Beckett said. "And that was three years ago. But what about lately? Were you in touch with him?"

"Of course, we were the only family we had here," Fletcher replied weakly. "But he was fine, he was trying to get some kind of work but Ellie wouldn't give him a reference of course and… that didn't help him at all."

"So he was angry with Eileen," Castle stated.

"No, no! He wasn't, he knew she was going to do that because he had stolen," Fletcher replied in an obvious panic. "He never went to ask her for a reference though because he was worried she might spread around what he'd done."

"Then could he have tricked her?" Beckett asked.

"Tricked?" Fletcher asked, calming down as she appeared perplexed.

"Was he in contact with her?" Castle said.

"I have no idea," Fletcher replied.

"Could he have been? Did he know her e-mail address? Her phone number," Brad then inquired.

"I… he knew her e-mail," Fletcher said, about to protest that before she slumped in her chair and nodded.

"He must have told you that he was going to pay her back after what she'd done to him," Brad began, pacing back and forth behind Castle and Beckett. "And you didn't really appreciate the idea but then again she did dump you and went back to her fiancé. You've had a long time of letting that build in you. You couldn't really let her get away with that either could you?"

"I loved her," Fletcher whispered, tears running down her cheeks as she spoke. "I'd never hurt her and I have a fiancée I love desperately."

"Then why don't you guide us through what happened from the time we spoke to you to when we found you in your cousin's home?" Beckett said carefully.

"I went home after and stayed until about an hour ago," Fletcher replied once she'd calmed down enough. "I got a text from Frank saying he wanted to have a coffee with me and to meet him at the _Teapot Café_ that's by my home." She breathed out and said, "I was waiting there for about… almost an hour and by then I realized he must have stood me up. So I went to his house and opened the door with the extra key that he gave me and I… found him."

"And yet you picked up the knife that was right next to him; that you had to have known was the murder weapon," Brad pointed out to her.

"I know but I was in shock. My cousin was dead!" Fletcher exclaimed. "He was my best friend and…"

"What time did you go to the café? And what time did you go to the house?" Beckett asked after looking at Brad as the woman was sobbing softly.

"I… I think at two-thirty," Fletcher whispered, trying to calm down as she knew answering would help her. "And I got to the house at almost… almost three thirty-five." She placed her head into her hands and murmured, "I should have just stayed home."

Brad was startled when Beckett stood up and she and Castle left the room, leaving him scrambling to follow. "What is it?" he asked them when they'd stepped out into the bull pen.

"It's not her," Castle said.

"He's right, you need to check the time of death," Beckett added. "Mr. Fletcher wasn't dead for that long once we got to the house; Thayer should be able to determine the time of death extremely accurately."

"And her times are right," Castle then said as Brad was still frowning. "She waited an hour and from there to the house was at least five minutes."

Brad finally sighed and said, "Alright, I'll call Thayer and see what he says but while I'm doing that get Hill to look at the café footage."

Before anyone could move or say anything after that they heard pounding on the door to interrogation behind them and the chief went to open the door.

"I forgot," Fletcher said, looking strained and horrified at the same time. "When I got out of my car in front of the house I saw a motorcycle going down the other end of the street, fast."

"And you're telling us this now?" Brad said.

"I just remembered," Fletcher replied as she looked like she was about to burst into tears again. "I don't know what kind it was but it was a really bright red and silver."

"Would you be able to identify it if you saw it?" Beckett asked.

When the woman nodded Brad ushered her back inside and then nodded to Castle and Beckett before they left to find Hill.

"Should we look at the motorcycle?" Castle asked his wife once they were sitting at her desk after they'd spoken to the officer.

"I think that's our best course," Beckett said. "Since we're not going to do anything until he clears Fletcher. But it would help if she'd been able to say what kind of bike it was."  
"She just gave me a little more information," Brad said, walking over to them. "It wasn't a Harley and after showing her a few different kinds she said it was likely a sporting bike."

"So they'd be able to leave fast," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"They would, we were going to look into this," Beckett told the chief.

"I'd appreciate that but it's getting late," Brad said to them both.

"It is but-" Castle started to say.

"You didn't let me finish," Brad interrupted him. "It's getting late and you two need to head home; at this point we can handle things."

"You-" Beckett began to say.

"We need to check on Fletcher's alibi and I'm about to call Thayer," Brad interrupted her that time. "If you two are right and she's cleared then all we have is the motorcycle. And that you know we can handle."

Castle and Beckett shared a look but they finally nodded before the chief left them and they turned their attention to the computer.

"Do you think we should tell your mom we're going to leave soon?" Beckett asked him as she was setting the parameters for the search on the computer.

"I can text her right now," Castle said. He got his phone out and was about to start typing out the message when he hesitated. "Do you want to know how Julia is doing?" he asked her.

Pausing Beckett looked at her husband and nodded saying, "That would be nice."

Castle quickly began to type out the message; _Kate and I will be home soon, we'll text when we're on the way. How's Julia?_ He then sent it and waited for his mother's answer. When he saw it he smiled and said, "She's doing fine."

Beckett looked over at him and saw he was holding his phone to her. Taking it, she read the message and smiled as she could immediately see their oldest had written it, " _I'm fine and I hope you can come back soon. So does Lizzy. We love you and miss you_."

"There's a picture," Castle said, having seen an attachment though he hadn't had a chance to open it.

Laughing softly at the sight of the girls sitting on the floor of the family room hugging the dogs sitting next to them Beckett handed his phone back to her husband so he could see and said, " _I guess we can go home once he says_ ," as she suddenly missed them both.

" _I think so_ ," Castle agreed with a nod before he and Beckett turned their attention to the computer and the list of motorcycles registered in the state with the DMV.

* * *

As they reached her house Julia said to Peter, "Thanks so much for coming with me."

"I kinda just wanted to see the station," he confessed, startled when she smiled widely at him when he finished talking.

"I knew already but that's okay. I don't blame you," Julia explained. "But you should go riding horses, that way you don't get nervous around them."

"I'll let you ride them," Peter said. "I better go, bye."

"See you tomorrow," Julia said with a wave. She smiled when he called the same to her as he rode away and she turned to the gate, pressing the buzzer for the door four times in Morse code for the letter J as her mother had taught them all to do for the door; using the first letter of their names depending on who it was. When she heard the buzz of the lock opening she quickly went inside with her bike before going down the driveway to the garage which was open.

"How was it Julia?" Martha asked as her granddaughter set her bike in its place in the garage.

"Really fun," the girl replied with a wide smile. "I have a new horse!"

"What?" Martha said.

"Another one?" Eliza said, seeming to be slightly confused.

"Wait," Martha told the two quickly. "Let's go inside before you tell us kiddo." She led the girls to the family room and once they were all sitting on the couch she urged the girl to continue.

Julia told them about the horse and the baby before she said to her little sister, "Is it okay if you have Marie instead?"

"Are you alright not having Marie as your horse?" Martha asked before the little girl could reply to that.

"Yeah, I thought about how Marie's dad is Alex but… I think I like Lottie a lot," Julia said. She then beamed at her sister and said, "And now Marie is yours she stays in our family."

"Oh yeah," Eliza said. She then turned her attention to her sister and said, "Can I change her name?"

"Of course," Martha said when the two looked at her questioningly. "Since it's your horse now I think you can change the name if you like."

"I do," Eliza replied. She then became thoughtful and said, "I wanna call it like where Mommy and Daddy got married again."

"Adare?" Julia asked. She wasn't sure that name could work and she looked at their grandmother.

"Girls, some horses are called very different names so Adare will be fine," Martha said.

"What about Innisfree?" Julia said when her sister began to look doubtful. "You could call her Innis."

"Oooh, I like that name," Eliza said. "That's the name of the place in the poem Mommy likes huh?"

"Yep, that's why I thought of it," Julia said. "And I…" she started to say, looking at her grandmother then. "I snuck out of the break room to go to where Mommy and Daddy were talking with Brad about their case."

"So my intuition was right," Martha commented with a knowing smile. "You do want to investigate with them."

"Yeah," Julia said, blushing.

"Well it's understandable," Martha said. "And did you hear anything that was big?"

"No, just something about a map," Julia said. "It didn't sound like it was that much."

"It could be," Martha replied. "I suppose they might be a bit later… should we think of something for dinner just in case?"

"Pizza!" Eliza cried out.

Laughing with Julia, Martha said, "Maybe we should wait for your parents to call us so we can decide all together."

"What do we do now?" Eliza asked.

"What would you like to do," Martha said simply.

"Let's paint again," Julia said to her sister.

"Okay," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly.

"Let me get your easel girls," Martha told them before she stood. When Julia did so as well she said, "I don't need help I'm not that old."

"Still," Julia said, smiling at her grandmother's tone. She followed her to where the easel was kept folded up and once it was ready she said, "I wanted to do a finger painting."

"Alright," Martha replied. "You just need to cover your clothes so you won't get them dirty." She helped both girls prepare themselves then for painting before she stepped back and watched the two beginning to make their art. "Now tell me who you're painting these for," she told them as she sat down on a chair she pulled from the wall to them.

"I'm painting mine for Mommy," Julia said.

"Mine's for Daddy," Eliza explained.

Martha smiled at how serious they were and said, "And what are you painting for them?"

"I'm painting Lottie but you knew that already Gram," Julia said.

"I did but I didn't want to commit to my answer just yet," Martha replied. "And you Eliza?"

"The leaves," the little girl replied.

"I think she means at the apples," Julia said; what she and her little sister had started calling Apple Canyon.

"Oh, you're remembering going," Martha said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, that was lots of fun," Eliza said. "Sorry you didn't…"

"Couldn't," Julia corrected when her sister looked at her.

"That," Eliza said.

"Better you two went alone with your parents," Martha commented. "I'm sure you had fun, didn't you?"

"Lots," Eliza said.

Nodding her head in agreement Julia said, "It was but next time go with us."

"If I can," Martha promised.

As she was making the lines of the horse's head in her picture Julia said, "We went to the zoo again."

"I'm not surprised," Martha told them. "And you saw the horses there again?"

"Yep," Eliza said. "We got to pet them 'cause Mommy said they would remember our smell."

"How fun," Martha said as she could tell from their tones that they were extremely happy at the memory. She was going to ask them how their painting was going; as she was sitting to the side of the easel and couldn't see their pictures; when her phone shook. "Oh, it's your father," she told the two as she read the text she had received. "They're still working but they just have a little more to go before they'll come home. And they're wondering how you are Julia."

"Say I'm good," Julia replied.

"I think you can reply yourself kiddo," Martha told her.

"Let's take a picture for them," Julia said.

"With the doggies," Eliza said.

"You should wash your hands first," Martha advised them. She followed them to the bathroom, watching them washing their hands rapidly. When they were back in the family room she took a picture of them sitting on the floor with the dogs before sending it to her son after Julia had sent off her response to the text. "Alright, finish up your pictures girls we want them to be ready for your parents when they come home."

"Maybe I should have painted the leaves," Julia told her sister jokingly when they were back in front of their pictures.

"No, you can paint them next time," Eliza said. She then peered around the easel and said, "Can we go back again?"

"I don't think so, remember Daddy said that that was gonna be it for the apples," Julia reminded her. "The season is over now."

"Next year," Martha told them as Eliza was pouting.

"But remember," Julia said. "When we went into the woods?"

"Yeah," Eliza said with a wide smile. "That was fun."

Since she knew her sister was concentrating on her picture Julia went back to her but her mind was wandering to that day when they had gone to Apple Canyon to spend the day with their parents.

* * *

 _"Easy you two," Beckett said with a smile as the girls started to jump up and down as they were hugging each other._

 _"They got stir crazy love," Castle told her._

 _Smiling again Beckett said, "I guess so. But you two are going to behave while we're here right?"_

 _"We will," Julia said as she and her sister had stopped. "But we're excited too."_

 _"I'm glad to hear that," Castle said. "What do you want to do now?"_

 _"Um… are we having lunch now?" Eliza asked._

 _"We don't have to do things exactly like we did last time," Beckett told the two._

 _"Can we go to the zoo again?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _"I think so," Beckett replied. "But let me guess, you two want to go straight to the horses."_

 _"Three, I do too," Castle commented._

 _"Four, you Mommy," Julia told them with a wide smile._

 _"Alright, let's go," Beckett said with a laugh before they then walked to get their tickets. As soon as they were inside she was picking up Eliza and said, "I thought you might run," to the little girl._

 _Giggling Eliza nodded and said, "Yep, can I ride the horsies? They were nice last time."_

 _"I don't think so but don't worry we can pet them," Beckett told her reassuringly._

 _When they neared the stables Julia said, "They're not there," in concern._

 _"No, they're there," Castle said in surprise when he saw the horses were in a corral he remembered from the time before._

 _"Oh… Mommy you can make them go around," Eliza whispered eagerly._

 _"We'll see," Beckett said, looking at the two before they came up to the fence of the corral. They were watching the horses walking around before she then looked around to find someone to ask about going inside, soon seeing her husband leaving them to do so._

 _"You can go in Kate," Castle said when he walked back to them. "But just you; they're afraid of us suing them if something happens to the girls."_

 _"What would really happen?" Julia protested._

 _"I think they want to be safe instead of sorry," Castle said as Beckett was going into the corral as they spoke._

 _Watching the three horses watching her Beckett walked along the fence before she could tell that they were relaxing around her. That let her see that she could approach them and while she did so she walked slowly, keeping her eye on them. She held her hand out when she was close enough, murmuring in Irish before the Thoroughbred came straight to her. She began to pet it, knowing it likely remembered her, and she said to the girls, "I'm bringing him over to you so be ready."_

 _"They already are," Castle said, smiling when his wife immediately looked over at him to find their daughters were standing on the railing._

 _With a smile Beckett walked to them and watched the Thoroughbred stick its head out to the two who were waiting as patiently as they could._

 _"Does he remember us?" Eliza asked as the horse was pressing at her cheek._

 _"He does, you can pet him," Beckett said in amusement. She watched them before she glanced back at the other two horses. They were close to her but weren't coming up to her._

 _"Unfriendly?" Castle asked as he was scratching the side of the stallion's neck then._

 _"No, I think they just want to stay there," Beckett replied. "They might not like the three of you all together."_

 _"We were four last time," Castle replied. "Unless you're talking about the fact they're out in the open."_

 _"That," Beckett said before she watched the Thoroughbred walk away from them._

 _"That's it?" Julia asked in disappointment._

 _"That's it," Beckett replied easily. "You don't want to really bother them if they're not feeling too sociable today."_

 _"How come?" Eliza asked when her mother was outside of the corral._

 _"Because they aren't," Beckett said._

 _"I think your mom's trying to tell you that you can't really make a horse explain how it feels," Castle said. "Now would you two like to head over to the petting zoo?"_

 _"This time," Beckett finished, smiling when he looked at her._

 _"Okay," Julia said first._

 _"Why don't you want to go in?" Castle asked the two as they walked over to the pen bordered by fencing, having picked up on their hesitation._

 _"I think they want to see more horses," Beckett said. When the two nodded she smiled and said, "We saw three and you were lucky to get to pet one of them."_

 _"Look at the goat," Eliza said then as they walked into the petting zoo. There was one to their right standing on a small shelf of wood and she said, "Why did he do that?"_

 _"Goats like to climb sweetie, remember," Beckett told her._

 _"Let me get you guys some food," Castle said, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and going to one of the dispensers there were. He got fifty cents worth of the pellets in there and went back to them saying, "Just take a little at a time."_

 _"Thanks Daddy," the girls said in unison._

 _Watching the two taking the food and the goats that were following them Castle said to his wife, "Are you going to take pictures?"_

 _"Do you want it?" Beckett asked teasingly though she was taking it from the bag she'd brought with them._

 _"I'll pass," Castle said, watching her getting it prepared. He followed her camera to the girls where they were petting the goats together that were gathered around them. "Did you run out of food?" he asked the two._

 _"Yeah, we need more Daddy," Eliza told him._

 _Handing the rest out to the two Castle said, "Try to feed them a little slower."_

 _"Do we need to?" Julia said._

 _"I think so, or else we're going to spend all our time here," Castle said. When the two just looked at him he said, "Oh sure, before you didn't want to come in here."_

 _"Leave them alone Rick," Beckett said laughingly. When he was standing next to her she took several pictures of the girls as they did their best to feed the goats and a few sheep that had appeared slowly. "Finished?" she asked when the two walked over to them._

 _"Yeah but my hands are gross," Julia said, holding them up._

 _"Mine too," Eliza added, flexing her fingers._

 _"They have a sink outside," Castle told them as he led the way to the gate to leave._

 _"Now what are we gonna do?" Julia asked after they'd washed their hands and were walking down the path again._

 _"There's more to see you know," Beckett replied. "And after this I think we should go up the hill; we didn't do that last time."_

 _"How come?" Eliza asked._

 _"I think we were more in a hurry to get back home than anything else," Castle answered. When the little girl nodded he picked her up and set her on his shoulders before they went up a slight incline and came to the fish pond._

 _"Do you two want to go over and see it?" Beckett asked them._

 _"I do," Julia said after she had looked around and saw that no one was there fishing._

 _"We're just going to look at them, not fish," Beckett said to Eliza as she'd made a slight sound._

 _"No?" the little girl asked._

 _"No," Beckett replied with a smile before she held her hand out to her. Once Eliza was off Castle's shoulders and was holding her hand she walked with her down to the pond where Julia was sitting and looking down into the water._

 _"Is she okay?" Castle asked as they watched their youngest join her sister._

 _"She was afraid we were going to fish," Beckett said._

 _"We didn't last time," Castle said._

 _"I guess she was worried we'd change our minds and do it this time," Beckett replied with a shrug._

 _"If someone comes in we better take them and go," Castle suggested._

 _Beckett nodded in agreement before they turned their attention to their daughters who were dipping their fingers into the water. "I don't think you'll be able to pet them," she told them._

 _"We can try," Julia pretended to protest angrily before she smiled at her mother. "What if we fed them?"_

 _"I don't think we can," Castle said, watching as they stood up. "You're done?" he said in surprise._

 _"I think they want to go somewhere else more," Beckett said. "It's not to the horses again is it?"_

 _The girls looked at each other before Julia spoke saying, "No but you gave us the idea now."_

 _"Do you want to keep going?" Beckett asked as the girls started to laugh together. When they nodded she took Julia's hand before Castle took Eliza and put her on his shoulders again. As they walked down the rest of the path she said, "We have a little time to head up the hill."_

 _"What if there's a lot to see?" Julia asked her._

 _"Then we'll have to leave it for after lunch and see something else," Castle said before they reached the exit and walked out._

 _"Are you going to be able to take her up?" Beckett asked her husband._

 _"I will," Castle assured her before they started their way up the hill. As it wasn't very steep he had no trouble with Eliza, feeling her holding onto his head before she moved her arms around his face to hold onto his chin. "Do you want to get down?" he asked her with a smile, trying to look up at her though he couldn't see her._

 _"No but how much more are we gonna go?" Eliza asked._

 _"We're here," Beckett said, looking back at them._

 _"And what is here exactly?" Castle asked._

 _"It looks like… stores," Julia said._

 _"It is, but you didn't see everything," Beckett said, pointing over past the second building there._

 _"We can… pan for gold," Julia started to say before she gasped and looked at her mother._

 _"Yes, you can," Beckett said with a smile. "And we should do that first because I get the feeling you two wouldn't leave us alone until we did."_

 _"Mommy," Julia said then. "I don't remember there being gold in New York in history class."_

 _"I think they're trying to appeal to kids," Castle commented as he was setting Eliza down._

 _"Like me?" the little girl asked. She giggled when her father kissed her cheek before she was on the ground and then said, "Can we still do it?"_

 _"If you want to Julia," Castle said teasingly._

 _Smiling the girl nodded and let her mother lead her over to the tub of water, watching as her parents spoke to a person who walked out of one of the stores, paying for two pans for her and her sister to use. "You remember how we did this before?" Julia asked them when the worker left._

 _"Do you? We thought you could," Beckett said with a smile._

 _"I do," Julia said quickly and with a nod. "But I can't reach."_

 _"Here," Castle said, taking her pan while his wife was getting Eliza's. He dipped it into the water and then handed it to Julia to step to the old sluice that was next to it. "How're you doing Eliza?" he asked the little girl who was bringing her pan over._

 _"Good Daddy but I don't know if I can do this by myself," she replied._

 _"Do you want me to help?" Castle asked. He wasn't surprised when she nodded and he covered her hands with his to help her begin to swirl the water around in her pan. "Oh… I think we have some stones and gold," he said after they'd been doing that long enough to get most of the water out._

 _"Jules, do you have-" Eliza started to say._

 _"Yeah, I have some gold too," Julia said, smiling at her. She looked at her mother and asked, "Do you want to finish this?"_

 _"That's okay, you can do that," Beckett assured her. "You probably know better than I do."_

 _Julia nodded and then set the pan aside to look at what was left in it, picking out the stones there were before she looked at her mother._

 _"Here," Beckett said, reaching into the bag that held her camera and taking out a handkerchief. She wasn't surprised when her daughter looked at her in confusion and she said, "It helps to have more than one for you and your sister; just in case."_

 _"Thanks," Julia said, putting her stones in there._

 _"See the pretty rocks Mommy?" Eliza said happily to her mother after her father had put what she'd found onto the other handkerchief they had._

 _"I do, it looks like you did a really good job," Beckett said as she squeezed her shoulder. "Do you two want to go inside the stores?"_

 _"Shouldn't we get these assayed?" Julia asked jokingly._

 _"I wish we could," Castle replied with a smile. "But your mom's right it's almost time for lunch so decide."_

 _"Can we look inside really quick?" Julia said._

 _"Alright," Beckett said before she took Eliza to the first store. She stopped just past the entrance and glanced at her husband._

 _"I think," Castle said. "We should keep going," knowing his wife wasn't enjoying the kitsch in the store._

 _"What if the other store is the same thing?" Eliza asked her father as they went to the second building._

 _"Then we start making our way down to the restaurant," Castle said. "Oh," he directed to his wife. "Love I should have asked but are we going to the same place?"_

 _"That depends on them," Beckett said, nodding down to the girls._

 _"We can go to the same place as last time?" Julia asked, having been listening to them._

 _"Sure, there are two other places," Castle said. "So you know."_

 _"How come you know?" Eliza asked him._

 _"Because I researched the place after we came the first time," Castle answered. "But the one that got the best reviews is the one we went to."_

 _"Then we wanna go there," Eliza said before she looked at her sister._

 _"Me too," Julia said before she laughed softly._

 _"Then we should start down there," Castle said as they'd walked into the store and he saw it sold the same kind of merchandise._

 _The family turned around then and began to walk outside and back down the hill to make their way to the restaurant._


	15. Wish That I'd Stayed Home (Part 2)

_"Are we waiting?" Beckett asked her husband as he walked back outside to them._

 _"We need to," Castle replied since he'd gone in to give their name as there were people waiting inside and a couple were on a bench outside._

 _"Lizzy look," Julia said then, turning her head and seeing the windows were looking in on what appeared to be a kitchen._

 _"Are they making pies?" Eliza asked eagerly after she and her sister were looking inside._

 _"Yeah," Julia said before she waved to one of the women inside who'd noticed them._

 _"How long is the wait?" Beckett asked her husband as they watched their daughters._

 _"Only ten minutes," Castle replied. "And they seem to be occupied so I think they'll be okay until then."_

 _Turning to him Beckett said with a smile, "If they are making pies then yes."_

 _"Luckily you're okay with us having some after lunch," Castle said with a smile._

 _"I know," Beckett replied, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gently._

 _"You're enjoying today right?" Castle asked her, watching her closely._

 _"Yes," Beckett said before she looked at him. "And I don't mind coming back here. It makes sense since the season for apples is almost over."_

 _Castle nodded and then said, "I'm just making sure."_

 _"I know," Beckett replied before she looked at him again when he wrapped his arm around her. She smiled and said, "Watch your hand."_

 _"Do I really have to?" Castle asked her. He was startled when she tugged gently on the front of his shirt and leaned down enough for their lips to meet. When they parted he glanced at the girls and saw they were still watching the bakers making the pies. Breathing out he then said, "_ Someone behind us saw _."_

 _Beckett was about to reply to that when they heard someone behind them clearing their throat and she wasn't surprised to find that it was the couple on the bench asking for their autographs._

 _Hearing their parents talking to someone Julia turned and saw they were signing what looked like a little notebook. She felt Eliza tugging her hand and looked down at her saying, "What?"_

 _"Why don't they have a book from Mommy and Daddy?" the little girl whispered to her._

 _"I don't think they knew they were gonna meet them," Julia replied softly._

 _"Is there any chance that they're going to go public?" the woman of the couple asked as Castle gave back her notebook. "Since they're going to get married at one point; I hope."_

 _"We'll see," Castle answered as he knew his wife wasn't going to. When the two were called in after thanking them he breathed out and said, "I'm getting a little tired of them asking that."_

 _"Maybe we should tell them that's what we did," Beckett replied._

 _"Did what?" Eliza asked._

 _"Remember they told us they were hiding they were together," Julia said before her parents could say anything._

 _"Oh… do you remember?" Eliza asked her._

 _"A little bit," Julia said. "I remember we went back and forth from the city home to Mommy's apartment 'cause we couldn't stay in one place."_

 _"It was your apartment too sweetie," Beckett told her._

 _Before anyone could reply to that an employee from the restaurant was stepping outside and was calling their name._

 _"I'm not going to say anything," Beckett said in amusement as her husband looked at her when they were walking inside._

 _"I could always give your name," Castle said as he'd given his last name._

 _"You won't," Beckett said, waiting until they reached their booth to speak._

 _Castle glanced at his wife; as he knew she'd done that deliberately; and sat down with Julia while she was across from them with Eliza. "I think I'm going to try something new," he told the girls._

 _"Can we get pie?" Eliza asked._

 _"Not for your lunch," Beckett said. "For dessert."_

 _"What about the caramel apples?" Julia said hopefully._

 _"Yes, but that we'll eat tomorrow at home," Beckett said. "Look at what you want."_

 _When they had ordered their food Julia asked, "What can we do next?"_

 _"Do you want to walk around?" Castle asked._

 _The girls looked at each other and were about to ask what he meant when their waitress brought their drinks and they waited impatiently for her to finish._

 _"Is it possible to head up the hill behind the orchard anywhere here?" Castle asked the woman._

 _"Oh sure," she replied with a nod. "You just take the path around the orchard but we have cameras on the trees so I wouldn't try to take any."_

 _"We're going to buy some somewhere else," Beckett said with a smile. "You don't need to worry."_

 _"Can we look at the apples?" Eliza asked hopefully._

 _"That you can do," the waitress said as she smiled at her._

 _"And take pictures?" Julia said._

 _Laughing the waitress nodded before she excused herself and the girls began telling their mother to take pictures since they hadn't brought their cameras that day._

 _"I will," Beckett assured them both. "I would like to anyways since I didn't get the chance to do it last time."_

 _When their food was served to them the girls then talked about what they would see when they walked on the path the waitress had told them about when she'd served them their meals. They were torn then between the promise of pies again and the woods that they wanted to see. But finally, they had eaten their slices of fresh apple pie and when their parents said they could they jumped up to put their feet so they could get their coats back on._

 _"Ooh, I'm excited to see the trees Daddy," Eliza said, on his shoulders as her parents wanted her to go there until the path wasn't as steep._

 _"Me too, your mom should get some great pictures," Castle said, looking up at her. They were reaching the orchard then and he walked with Beckett and Julia up to the trees, saying, "There are a lot less this time."_

 _"You realize there were less on the trees we passed on the road up here," Beckett said, looking over at him from her camera._

 _"I was hoping the altitude had something to with it," Castle commented._

 _"We're not that far away," Beckett said though she was fully smiling. "Ready?" she directed to the girls. When they nodded she led the way on the path past the orchard before she soon came to the point where the path was fainter and the trees were closer together._

 _"Think we should go off the path?" Castle asked his wife._

 _"I think we should pass," Beckett said. When the girls frowned she smiled and said, "We'll walk as far as we can."_

 _"Couldn't we go just a little bit?" Julia asked her mother._

 _"Just a little Kate," Castle said._

 _Glancing back at her husband Beckett said, "You're as bad as they are."_

 _"I have to help," Castle replied with a shrug._

 _"Maybe," Beckett finally said after thinking about that for a moment. She couldn't help shaking her head as the girls cheered so obviously at her slight agreement and she said, "Sometimes I feel out numbered."_

 _"It's not that," Castle said quickly as they were continuing to walk. "You're the smart one and responsible."_

 _"Why am I the only smart one?" Beckett asked, looking back at him._

 _"I am too!" Eliza protested._

 _Laughing with the others Castle then stopped as they came to a flat part of the path and he said, "Love."_

 _Stopping and turning around Beckett saw that Eliza was almost running off the path and she said, "What did you find?"_

 _"It's a clearing," Julia said in wonder._

 _"It goes on for a while too," Castle pointed out as they watched Eliza balancing on a boulder._

 _Julia took off through the red, orange, yellow and green leaves that covered the ground; doing so since her parents hadn't called her sister back to them. When she reached Eliza she then reached up for the low branch and grabbed onto it, letting herself swing before she began to kick her legs to keep doing that. She laughed when her sister tried to hold onto her legs. "I'm gonna kick you."_

 _"No, you won't," Eliza said before she then stopped and stepped away a little. Watching her sister, she then asked, "Can I do that too?"_

 _"I think you're too short," Castle commented as he and Beckett had walked up to them._

 _"One day you'll be able to do it," Beckett said when Eliza looked annoyed. "Sweetie," she directed to Julia. "You're going to cut your hands."_

 _Dropping down on the ground the girl said, "I'm okay, I just wanted to see how much I could do that."_

 _"And now you know," Castle replied._

 _"There's water over there," Eliza said, pointing to a creek._

 _"You two can't really go in," Castle said. "It's way too cold. Hey," he said, looking at his wife. "Now I'm the responsible one."_

 _"I guess so," Beckett said laughingly._

 _"Can we walk around?" Julia then asked._

 _"Go ahead," Castle said. "Though I'm going to predict what your mom will tell you two to stay in sight of us."_

 _"I still think you're responsible Daddy," Julia said before she took her sister's hand and they rushed down to the side of the creek, looking into the water._

 _"Where are you going?" Beckett asked her husband with a smile as he pulled her over to a group of boulders._

 _"This is the best place we can sit and watch them," Castle told her._

 _With a nod Beckett sat with him, ending up on a rock a little above the one that he was on. She was going to say something to him when Julia ran up to them and she said, "You got bored already?"_

 _"No, can I use your camera?" the girl asked with a smile. "I'll be really careful. There are fish in the water and we can see them."_

 _"Alright," Beckett said, taking it off her neck and handing it to her. She watched Julia go back to where Eliza was still standing at the side of the creek. When she felt her husband taking her hand she looked at him and said, "You didn't want to head over with them?"_

 _"Not yet," Castle said simply. "What do you think of including something like this into our story?"_

 _"I don't know," Beckett said honestly, thinking about that for a moment. "It could work…"_

 _"What?" Castle asked, seeing her hesitate._

 _"I was going to say they could be called into a case then but I'm doubtful about any reception," Beckett explained._

 _"Then we could start Moor and Green here before moving them to the buildings; there is reception there," Castle suggested._

 _"It could work," Beckett said with a nod. "Since we've tested that." She then smiled at him and told him, "Next book?"_

 _"I think we can move it to fall," Castle said with a quick nod. "I think," he then told her as they looked out at the girls again. "We should join them."_

 _"Not quite," Beckett told him. When he looked at her in surprise she leaned over and gently pressed her lips to his, hoping that they would have a moment for that while the girls were busy._

 _Castle was thinking the same but while they were kissing each other he focused his attention enough on his wife until they needed to part to breathe. By then he was cupping her face with his hands and he murmured a thank you in Irish._

 _With a quick smile Beckett pressed her forehead against her husband's before she said, "It wasn't a problem."_

 _"Should we go now?" Castle then asked._

 _"You seem less eager for that than before," Beckett commented, smiling again._

 _"That I'm blaming on you," Castle said. She brushed her lips to his and he said, "Again."_

 _"Come on," Beckett said, laughing before she stood and then took her husband's hand so they could get up together and they walked over to where the girls were kneeling on the ground and picking up the leaves. "What are you two doing?" she said when they were close enough._

 _"We want to take these home," Eliza said first._

 _"For what?" Castle asked._

 _"Maybe we can make a wreath," Julia suggested._

 _"I don't think so," Beckett said with a smile. "You wouldn't really be able to make it last for that long."_

 _"Don't look at me," Castle said when the girls were doing that. "There's no way that I can make them stay that fresh."_

 _Sighing Julia said to her sister, "I think he's right, we can't."_

 _"Did you take pictures of the leaves?" Beckett asked Julia._

 _"Yeah, a lot," the girl replied._

 _"Should we keep going?" Castle asked them._

 _"More in the woods?" Julia asked._

 _"No, back to the stores," Beckett said._

 _"Do we have to go back?" Julia complained._

 _"It's six hours to and from," Castle explained. "Your mom doesn't want us getting back too late home."_

 _"But we are gonna go to more stores, right?" Julia asked._

 _"We will, come on," Beckett told them, holding out her hand for Julia. She was surprised when her daughter instead handed her her camera and she thanked her before they began to make their way back down to the restaurant._

 _"We should take a big pie home," Eliza said when they were making their way over to the stores west of the restaurant._

 _"I think a caramel apple is enough," Castle said laughingly to her. "Do you want to walk?" he asked as she was on his shoulders again. He could feel her nodding so he set her down before he said, "Are we only going to one store here love?"_

 _"I think it's enough love," Beckett told him with a smile._

 _"You mean the ones down by the stall?" Castle said since there had been a few that were in that direction._

 _"Yes, but I get the feeling they're basically going to be the same as the others we've seen," Beckett said. They reached the second to last store and she led the girls inside before Castle followed them and the door closed behind them._

 _"What can we get?" Julia asked as they'd stayed close together._

 _"Just apples," Beckett replied._

 _"I think they want the candies," Castle said as he could see Eliza glancing over to the section where they were._

 _"Another time," Beckett said._

 _"Can we watch them make that?" Eliza asked, pointing to the partition where a woman was preparing some fudge._

 _"Go ahead," Beckett replied, watching her husband taking them. "You didn't tell me what you wanted," she told the girls with a smile as she walked after them._

 _"The same like we got before," Eliza replied._

 _"Yeah, me too," Julia said, nodding her head rapidly._

 _Watching his wife go back to the register where the caramel apples were kept behind it Castle then turned his attention back to the girls before he saw Eliza had her face pressed up against the partition. "Sweetheart," he said with a smile. "Step back a little bit."_

 _"Sorry," Eliza said though she didn't stop watching the woman on the other side._

 _"Would you like a sample?" the woman asked, looking up at that._

 _"A very small one," Castle commented as the girls looked at him. He watched as the woman cut of tiny squares and followed the girls over to the point where the partition ended so they could take them. He wasn't surprised he didn't need to remind them to say thank you and he took them back over to where Beckett was, seeing she had already paid._

 _"What did you two get?" she asked the girls as she watched them chewing._

 _"Samples, very small samples," Castle replied._

 _"Of the fudge, the nice lady let us have some," Eliza said eagerly. "You should get some Mommy."_

 _"That's alright," Beckett said. "Did you like it?" she asked them then._

 _"Yeah, it was really good," Julia replied. She looked at the bag that her father was taking from her mother and she smiled saying, "Thanks for the apples."_

 _"Yeah thanks," Eliza said quickly._

 _"Let's keep going, we need to get our apples," Castle said when his wife glanced at him and he could see as she did that their daughters were again trying to look over to the candies._

 _"And you two can pick them this time," Beckett said._

 _"_ Nice _," Castle murmured under his breath in Irish as the girls' heads whipped over to her in response._

 _"_ Thank you _," Beckett said, smiling herself._

 _"Could we really?" Julia asked, waiting for her mother to stop speaking._

 _"Yes," Beckett replied. "And speaking of that we should go before someone takes all the apples."_

 _Eliza giggled heavily and said, "No they won't."_

 _"Better to be safe than sorry," Castle told them before they made their way down to the stall. When they had reached it he said, "Have they been working on it?" as he noticed that the building was different._

 _"I think so," Beckett said since the first thing they saw were doors where before they'd been able to just walk in._

 _"Wow, this is a lot bigger than last time," Castle said._

 _"Because it was an addition," a man said nearby them. "We prepared this room before tearing down the old building."_

 _Nodding in thanks for the explanation as the man left Castle said, "Should we go after our daughters?"_

 _"Probably," Beckett replied with a smile before they walked together to the girls who were looking at the display in the middle that was full of bags of apples._

 _"That one looks good," Julia was whispering to her little sister._

 _"You two don't need to be quiet," Beckett told them as they reached where they were. "Just don't start yelling."_

 _"Kay, does that say red?" Eliza asked as she pointed to the handle of the bag of red apples._

 _"It does, Julia?" Castle asked as the little girl had been talking to him._

 _"It says Red Delicious," the girl replied. "Can we get it?"_

 _"Yes, we're going to take a lot again because we're not going to get the chance to get any this fresh until next year," Castle told them. "Maybe we should divide and conquer love," he said to her._

 _"For apples?" Julia asked as her parents had explained to her what the phrase meant._

 _"Sure, why not," Castle replied before Eliza was suddenly grabbing his hand and tugging it so they could go around the display. "We'll see you," he told his wife._

 _"Mommy what does this one say? I can't read it," Julia told her mother._

 _"Braeburn," Beckett replied. "Do you want to try it?"_

 _"Yes please," Julia said before her mother gestured for her to pick up the bag she'd looked at. "Is it good?" she asked after doing so._

 _"They are," Beckett said with a nod. "We should get these," she told her daughter when she had spotted the next kind of apples._

 _"Daddy's favorite?" Julia asked._

 _Beckett nodded while she was looking over them and picked up one of the bags of Granny Smith apples. They made their way down the rest of the way of the display before going around to where Castle and Eliza were. Seeing them she said, "Nothing?"_

 _"I figured we should wait, Eliza saw a couple but one was better for baking," Castle said._

 _"You still could get it," Beckett told him._

 _"Okay, then how about these?" Castle said as he led the way over to the red and green apples._

 _"Winesap?" Beckett said. She looked around and said, "Maybe we should try ones we haven't had before."_

 _"I'll go ask," Castle told his wife before he left them to find an employee._

 _"Could we?" Julia asked her mother._

 _"I'm hoping, I've seen this kind but have never tried it," Beckett answered. She wasn't too surprised to find her husband soon returning with the worker who'd talked to them at the entrance._

 _"So this is the Winesap," the man said, cutting into an apple he held though he'd set two others on the shelf in front of them. "You'll enjoy it; my wife likes to say it tastes like fall."_

 _"It does," Julia said after she'd eaten her bite._

 _"Can we get it Mommy?" Eliza asked, eating her slice._

 _"Go ahead," Beckett said as Castle stopped in looking at the bags._

 _"He said you wanted to try the Empire here," the man then said, cutting into a red apple. "That one is good for desserts."_

 _"I think that's a yes," Castle said with a smile as he and Beckett watched their daughters trying out their slices and their eyes soon after widened._

 _"It is," Beckett said before she picked out a bag of that one._

 _"And this one is the Liberty apple," the man said, cutting into the last apple._

 _Since the girls enjoyed that one as well Castle got a bag of that kind of apple before they gathered all the ones they had and after grabbing a bottle of cider they went to pay._

 _"Is that it?" Eliza asked in disappointment._

 _"It is, we got to see a lot this time," Beckett told her with a smile._

 _"We can come back right?" Julia then said._

 _"Oh, sure but we're going to need to wait until at least September," Beckett said. She looked up to find her husband was walking up to them and said, "You didn't pay?"_

 _"I just realized we don't have anything to decorate the table for next month," Castle said as he looked at the girls._

 _"Well… what could we get?" Julia said interestedly._

 _With a smile Beckett said, "I think he wants you to pick from the squashes again."_

 _Pulling the girls over to the table where there were some Castle chose a few with the two before he was taking them back to the register. "Now we're ready," he said once he was back with his wife and the girls._

 _"I don't want to go," Eliza said with a sigh as they were walking out to the car._

 _"Think of this," Castle told her. "When we get home, we can try out our new apples."_

 _"Good," Julia said. "Which one?"_

 _"You can pick your own," Beckett said with a smile. "We don't need to have the same apples."_

 _Julia watched her parents load up the car with everything they had gotten before she looked around them. She smiled at how much fun it had been but when her mother touched her shoulder she climbed into the car after her sister._

 _"They're already thinking of coming back," Castle told his wife as they stood at the passenger door he was about to open for her._

 _"Oh, I know already," Beckett said, smiling as she glanced at the two in the car. When she looked back at her husband she almost gasped when he kissed her, just managing not to before she responding to his lips on hers a little rough but not too passionate as they were likely watching._

 _Parting from her Castle smiled before he said, "We should go, shouldn't we?"_

 _"Alright," Beckett said, pretending to sound exasperated. "One more."_

 _Castle mouthed a thank you and then kissed her yet again and a little harder, unable to resist as he'd enjoyed the previous kiss greatly._

 _"Are we gonna go?" Eliza whispered to Julia in the car._

 _"Shh, let them kiss they can't when we're around all the people," the girl replied. Glancing at their parents Julia smiled and then sat back in the seat, hoping when they were home they would have a chance to be outside again to play with them._

* * *

"Girls your father texted me," Martha said to them. "They're going to leave right now and we will have pizza tonight."

"Good," Eliza said, hurrying over to her. "Jules did you hear?" she asked her sister when there was no sound from her.

"Julia?" Martha said as she realized that the girl was staring out into space.

"Yeah," Julia said after she had shaken herself. "I'll be right back." She raced up to her room; her memories of their day in Apple Canyon making her realize something. She got onto her computer and was grateful that she had known already how to get pictures off her mother's camera since she hadn't wanted her mother to see all the ones she'd taken. She worked furiously before she started her printer and picked out the pictures once they were finished, smiling though she was a little nervous at what reaction she would get whenever her parents came home.

* * *

"What do you have?" Brad asked, walking up to the two at their desk still.

"Motorcycles, a lot of them," Castle said first.

"He's not kidding," Beckett said, holding the papers up to him that they'd printed out for further documentation.

"How many of these are there?" Brad said, looking at the two pages.

"Seventy-four," Beckett said.

"She's not kidding," Castle said, not surprised when his wife glanced at him for echoing her in a way. "And what about Fletcher?"

"She's free to go," Brad said. "Her fiancée is here to pick her up."

"What cleared her?" Beckett asked.

"Thayer has the exact time of death," Brad replied. "His watch broke in the attack-"

"Attack?" Castle said.

"He has bruising so he fought with whoever killed him and it said three twenty-two," Brad said. "That puts it before she arrived at the house; she was still at the café according to their security footage; so she's not the killer."

"We were hoping it could have been," Castle said as he knew his friend was frustrated.

"Better you two were here to push me on that," Brad told them. "And at least we have somewhere to go from here."

"Is tech looking into who exactly contacted her?" Castle then asked.

"They are and they might take a while because Mr. Fletcher was still alive when the message was sent," Brad assured them. "So."

"Are you kicking us out?" Beckett said with a smile.

"Definitely," Brad replied. "We'll be looking at this-"

"Are you not going to go home?" Castle interrupted.

Glancing at him Brad said, "Yes but I might have to take this home with me."

"I wouldn't do that," Beckett said. "It is Sunday."

"But this many bikes?" Brad said. "And that's only the beginning of course the idea being I don't think it was legally out; stolen."

"Still you should spend time with your family," Castle said.

Brad sighed and then said, "Alright, I'll have the others take this up when I leave but for now I'm working with them."

"When should we come in?" Beckett said as she and her husband got up.

"I'll text as always," Brad said. "And call if there's something."

Going into the chief's office to get their coats Castle said, "There's a part of me that hopes you call but…"

"I don't blame you," Brad replied. He then smiled and said, "I like how you two have matching scarves."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye at him Beckett said, "They're warm."

"Very, plus the girls made us wear them before we left earlier," Castle replied as he and his wife were wearing their Ravenclaw scarves they'd gotten in Japan.

"Then that would make sense," Brad said. "Tell Julia to stay at school tomorrow."

"Don't worry, she knows already to do that," Beckett replied with a smile. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yes, see you tomorrow Brad," Castle said, his wife echoing him before they then left the bull pen, calling goodbye to the officers there until they were walking out the lobby to their car in the front as they'd parked there to get out of the parking lot quicker. "What should we do for dinner?" he said when they were near the car.

"Pizza, we can pick it up on the way," Beckett answered. "Text your mother so they know."

With a nod Castle let her drive to the pizza parlor while he was texting, reaching over to her at a red light to pull her to him. Their kiss was brief but for the time being it was satisfying enough as he knew they would soon be home and able to do more as they continued again down the road.


	16. Sun Went Down The Sky

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Glad getting the feedback for the next chapter so will go straight to my thank yous for them! MsNYC (It was really nice that you love Martha plus her relationship with her grandkids 'cause it is fun writing her and her with them too. And I wasn't surprised at all to see you loved the flashback since I know you do love them! I also wasn't surprised that you're wondering what Julia's up to and nice that you think it'll be great whatever it is. Thanks for the big smile about the second half of the flashback, I figured you'd enjoy it and was glad to see I was right. And as usual I'm pleased to read you thought it was great writing as always!),  
TORONTOSUN (I was very pleased to read that you thought the flashback was good since I enjoyed writing that one. And I'm also happy that you thought the chapter had good writing too!) and  
vetgirlmx (Glad to see you thought it was a very fun chapter. I wasn't surprised that you were glad that they cleared Fletcher fast that way they didn't have to keep investigating her when she was innocent. And I also wasn't surprised at your comments about the motorcycle ending up being recently stolen but you'll have to see how that works out. But yeah, still a lot left to do with the case of course! I'm so happy to see that you enjoyed a lot them heading back to the apples, lol, it's called Apple Canyon- though I made up the place- though I have them calling that the apples as that's what my family does since it's easier to say and we know what that means, lol. And yeah, that's always a short trip so I'm not surprised you'd noticed that, or that it was longer than the last trip but that's 'cause I had them set out to go there, lol. But yeah, they got more pie and definitely more apples; that's a flashback to my childhood going to the apples place I go to, lol, though we do still do that but don't get so many apples. And not surprised you too are wondering about what Julia is planning to do but you'll see. Also not surprised you're sure it's going to be a nice surprise for her parents. So pleased you can't wait to see the next chapter and now you don't need to anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Tired of Midnight Blue_ by George Harrison, from his album _Extra Texture (Read All About It)_.

Sun Went Down The Sky

"Hello, you two," Beckett said to the girls with a smile once she'd gotten out of the car to find them in the doorway to the house.

"Hi, did you get pizzas?" Eliza asked first.

"If we say no are you going to go inside and lock the door?" Castle asked jokingly from where he was standing next to the driver's seat.

"No," Eliza said with a giggle.

"Well we did," Castle replied. He watched with a smile on his face as the girls ran to Beckett and embraced her at the same time.

"I'm glad to see you too," Beckett told them with a smile. "Now come on before the pizzas get cold."

"Let me put these down first," Castle told the girls when they looked at him.

When they walked inside the house Martha said, "Hello you two; they've been going around from the front door to here and back."

"I'm not surprised, it took us a little longer to get the pizza as there were a lot of people ordering," Beckett replied. She then looked at the girls and said, "Which was torture, we wanted to get back to you."

"Both of us did," Castle commented as he walked into the family room. He took the girls into his arms and held them tightly before he said, "I just had an idea love."

"Yes, we can eat here," Beckett replied. "Oh… what about Alexis?"

"I'll text her while we're getting our food," Castle replied before they all went together to the kitchen, the girls talking excitedly about their 'picnic' as they went.

"Let me help you Eliza," Beckett told the little girl as she took her plate from her.

"Kay," Eliza replied with a smile. "I want those… that one and can I have that one too?"

"Let me cut them into smaller slices," Beckett said before she got a knife. "Go with your sister and gram to the family room," she told her as she handed her her plate. When they were alone she said to her husband, "You can have wine you know," as he'd turned down some from his mother.

Shaking his head Castle said, "Alexis will talk to us after we eat… unless we want to right now."

"We should now," Beckett told him. "Since it's later for her." She and her husband grabbed their slices of pizza and drinks before they joined the rest of their family.

"We're going to talk to Alexis right now," Castle told the others. "Since it's so late for her."

"Oh… are you going to tell her about the case?" Julia asked then.

"Yes, but don't forget that you need to tell her about our horses," Beckett said. She then looked at Martha and Eliza and said, "I'm guessing she told you?"

"Oh of course, almost instantly," Martha said with a slight wave of her hand. "And interesting to hear. By the way, Eliza has some news for you."

Looking at her grandmother the little girl looked confused for a moment before she seemed to shake herself and she said "I'm gonna call Marie Innisfree… Innis."

"That sounds like a nice name," Castle said.

"He's right," Beckett then said. "It is a nice name. So, you two are agreed on the horses."

"We are," Julia said with a nod before they looked at the screen of the TV as Alexis appeared and she and Eliza waved at her eagerly before she could talk.

"Hi," the young woman said as she smiled down at her sisters. "I have to know; how was the game?"

"It was good," Castle said, not surprised when everyone else looked at him. "We won ten to eight."

"It was close," Alexis replied. When her father nodded she then said, "What else did you do?"

"Mommy and Daddy got a case after that," Julia said before anyone else could answer.

"You did?" Alexis said.

"Darling," Martha said to Eliza. "I just realized we forgot napkins. Do you want to help me grab them?"

"Kay," the little girl said.

When the two were gone Beckett said, "Do you remember Eileen McGale?"

"Someone killed her?" Alexis asked as she knew the woman from her stepmother's team.

"They did and she was found in the janitor's closet in the men's changing room at the field," Castle said.

"Right after the game?" Alexis said.

"Right after but I wasn't there," Castle replied. "But we've been working on it since… well not since then because I came back and took a shower but after that we've been working on it."

"So," Beckett said as she looked back to the doorway and saw Eliza coming inside. "Julia, you want to tell your sister what you did today?"

Looking at Eliza who merely smiled at her Julia turned to the TV and explained about going to the station and seeing the horse. "And the baby it's gonna have… that can be your horse if you want it to be," she finished.

"I don't know," Alexis said to everyone's surprise.

"You don't want a horse?" Beckett said.

"Not really, I don't ride like you all do and things aren't really for sure," Alexis explained. "You will keep it though?"

"Of course," Beckett replied. "You'd want to wait?"

"Yeah," Alexis said. "Maybe in the future I'll decide but for now I can't really do that."

"Maybe it's better to wait," Castle pointed out.

"I just thought of something," Alexis said. "If it's a stallion I'm not sure I'd be that comfortable riding it."

"Then we really should wait," Castle said with a smile. "But the pony will be born in… a month or two?" he said to his wife.

"That long," Beckett said with a nod. She then looked at her husband and said, "You should tell her who we saw outside the clinic's stable love."

"Your mother," Castle said though he didn't want to talk about it really. "She was looking for a dog for her fiancé."

"She's told me about that," Alexis said with a nod.

"I saw her again," Julia suddenly said.

"What?" Castle and Beckett said at the same time.

Julia explained what had happened and said, "I didn't think about going in the car, she was making me nervous. She's a stranger," glancing at her big sister.

"You're right, she is for you and Lizzy," Alexis said. "And I know your mom and Dad taught you not to take rides from strangers. So they taught you well."

"She's right, you did what we told you to do," Beckett said. "What did you do after when you got home?"

"Oh, our pictures…" Julia said.

"We painted," Eliza then said. "For Mommy and Daddy."

"Could I see them?" Alexis asked. She watched the girls go over to an easel that she could just barely see and when they came back she smiled and said, "Is that Lottie?"

"Yeah," Julia said, smiling at her parents who were looking at the picture too.

"And is that of Apple Canyon?" Alexis asked Eliza, hoping her guess of the red, orange and yellow streaks on the paper was right.

"These are the trees we got to see," the little girl said, nodding her head.

"Nice, both came out very nice," Alexis told them. "But what did you do before you went out Julia? You and Lizzy?"

"We played with their paint kit," Martha said.

"The spinning art," Julia added.

"How did those come out," Alexis said.

"Here," Julia said, she and her sister getting up to grab the pictures they'd both made.

"You can make one when you come home," Eliza told her as they were holding up the pictures.

"Thank you," Alexis said with a slight laugh. "I look forward to that. Nothing else?"

"That's it until we called you," Martha said. "Now I think it's your turn to tell us about your Sunday."

"It was nice here," Alexis said since she was still at White Mount. "We went swimming since it was snowing outside."

"Lucky," the girls said at the exact same time before they laughed together.

"Erin was thinking of you two," Alexis told them with a smile. "She said you should have an indoor pool too."

"I think we'll leave it as it is," Beckett said when the two looked back at her and Castle. "Is that all you did?" she asked her step daughter.

"Yeah, we were just taking the chance to relax before we go back," Alexis replied. "And I know you have dinner getting cold so I'll say goodnight. I'll see if tomorrow we can talk again. Jules, Lizzy I love you both."

"Love you 'lexis," Eliza said first with a smile.

"Yeah, love you too and have a good drive back to Oxford," Julia then told her.

"I should," Alexis said with a nod. "And-"

"Hullo everyone," Louis said, appearing behind them. "I hate to barge in here but just wanted to ask if it might be alright if Lex calls you Tuesday?"

"Are you planning on going out?" Castle asked with a smile at the surprise on his daughter's face.

"If she'd like to as well," Louis replied.

"Will you tell us about it?" Eliza asked her sister.

"Sure," Alexis said with a smile. "And yes, I'd like to go," she then directed to her boyfriend.

"Alright, sorry," Louis told the others on the screen.

"It's alright," Martha said. "Better you asked while we were here. Have a wonderful date tomorrow kiddo."

"Thank you, Gram love you," Alexis said. "Dad, Kate, love you too."

"We love you Alexis," Castle said, seeing Beckett nodding out of the corner of his eye. "Let us know on Tuesday when we can call."

"I will, night," Alexis told them before she then closed her laptop.

"What is it?" Louis asked, spotting the troubled expression on his girlfriend's face.

Alexis told him about what had happened to her little sister when her mother had tried to give her and Peter a ride and said, "That worries me… a lot."

"You think there's something psychological behind her doing that?" Louis asked before he took her hand to get her up so they could sit on the end of his bed.

"I don't know, Mom is not like that," Alexis replied.

"But you said-" Louis began.

"I know," Alexis interrupted.

"I hate to say this, maybe she stopped Julia to try and talk to her," Louis said. "To try and… shake your stepmother."

"Shake her from what?" Alexis asked in exasperation.

Wrapping his arm around her; as he knew her sentiment was directed at the situation and not him; Louis said, "I would imagine; though I'm no psychiatrist; she thinks to put doubt into her head about her relationship with your father. She'd prefer him on his own, wouldn't she?"

Groaning Alexis buried her face into her hands and said, "She does, I was surprised she didn't come sniffing around right after they got married."

"Didn't stand a chance," Louis told her seriously. "They had a baby after all and what newlywed would turn that fast? Well… not your da of course."

"Of course," Alexis said. She sighed and then said, "My dad told me Mom was talking to Kate about how they'd been married for five years."

"Would hate to say it," Louis said after he thought that over.

"Mom is thinking that she can start now," Alexis replied.

"And what better way to get to Kate? By messing with Julia," Louis pointed out to her.

Straightening up Alexis looked at him and was going to protest that before she realized that he was right and she sighed deeply. "I hate to think of her going to that dinner on Wednesday."

"I hope your da might talk to her," Louis told her seriously.

"Yeah," Alexis said. "But really Kate can take care of herself."

"Your sister too, turned your ma down right quick it sounded like," Louis said.

"Were you listening to our conversation?" Alexis asked, pretending to sound annoyed. When he just nodded she lunged at him and pushed him back on the bed before trying to tickle his sides. She wasn't surprised when he managed to hold onto her and laughed when they stopped pretending to struggle against each other and asked, "What were we talking about?"

"Don't remember," Louis said, shrugging. He wrapped his arms around her when Alexis bowed her head down to him and kissed him, thinking it would last a while. But when she suddenly pulled away from him he said, "What is it?"

"Your door," Alexis replied with a smile. She closed and locked the door and then went to where he was standing, stopping him from unbuttoning his shirt before her arms wrapped around him and they fell into their kiss as they fell to the bed just as easily.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Castle asked his wife as he approached her in the kitchen.

"Yeah it just… unsettled me to hear that," Beckett replied, knowing what he was referencing immediately.

"Me too," Castle said. "Do you want me to talk to her about it?"

"No," Beckett said. "Let her think we're not seeing this as possibly being more than it is."

"I think it was more than just her giving them a ride," Castle said. "Where the hell was she going that she was that close to the house?"

"That was going through my mind too," Beckett said with a sigh. "She wanted to talk to her."

"You don't think…" Castle began.

"I don't know," Beckett said softly. " _What if she was trying to hurt her, tell her that I wasn't her birth mother_?"

" _To get to you in some way_ ," Castle stated.

" _It sounds ridiculous I know_ ," Beckett said, turning to look out the window away from him.

" _To be honest it sounds like a theory I would have_ ," Castle told her with a slight smile. " _And I would agree and at this point we should say that she has it in for you. I really wish this wasn't the case_."

Glancing at him Beckett saw that he was sincere and she said, " _It's a sort of compliment to you_."

" _I don't want it_ ," Castle said, shaking his head seriously. " _I have to talk to her_ Kate."

" _It's what she wants_ ," Beckett said. " _I don't know if that's what she meant to do with this but it's what she wants. And since I don't think she means to do anything to physically hurt the girls_ …"

" _Ignore her_?" Castle said. When his wife nodded he then asked, " _What if she tries to talk to_ Julia _again_?"

" _Then we both talk to her_ ," Beckett said. " _Because I think_ Julia _has made it obvious she doesn't want to talk to her already_."

"What are you talking about Mommy?" a voice said at the threshold to the kitchen.

Turning around with Beckett, Castle saw their oldest there and when he glanced at his wife he wasn't surprised when she nodded to him. Taking a mental breath, he said to the girl, "Sweetheart we're not sure if Alexis' mom is going to stay much longer now but if she ever approaches you until she leaves let us know okay?"

"I'll say," Julia replied with a nod. "But she won't try to come see me again will she?"

"Probably not," Beckett said, knowing her husband was glancing at her for that.

"We're just letting you know," Castle said.

"Oh okay," Julia said. "What are we gonna do now though?"

"Everything's cleaned up," Castle said as he looked at the sink where he and Beckett had been doing that. "I guess now's a good time to play."

"Good we know what we want to do already," Julia told them.

"I think I should be scared of that look on her face," Beckett told her husband as they followed their daughter.

"I think I should be," Castle replied. He laughed when his wife and Julia both looked at him and he said, "Just kidding."

"Mommy can we play?" Eliza asked hopefully when they walked inside.

"I think they want to go play at the course," Martha said as she'd helped her granddaughters set up their miniature golf course play set.

"We haven't been there for a while so I don't blame them," Castle said with a smile. "How're we doing this?"

"Treat it like a golf course," Martha suggested.

"We will," Julia said. "Do we have to play on teams?"

"If you guys don't want to," Beckett said to the girls. When they nodded she wasn't surprised and she said, "Then we should go ahead and get started."

"Who goes first?" Eliza asked as they went to the first little obstacle.

"We should go by age," Castle replied. "You don't want to play Mother?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Martha said simply.

Eliza hit her golf ball over a small bridge and she smiled as it went through an arch before stopping near the hole. While Julia was going next she asked her mother, "Are you gonna take us to school?"

"Of course, you know Brad won't ask us to go work with him until after we take the two of you," Beckett replied.

"And you know this is the last case we'll have until after Thanksgiving," Castle said.

"Really?" Julia asked after she had moved to let Beckett go.

"Of course," Castle said. "Your mom's birthday is-"

"It's Dad," Beckett guessed when she saw her phone was ringing on the coffee table. She went over to it and reading the text saw that it was him. "He wants to talk to us."

"Let me get the TV ready," Castle said, hurrying over to it. He looked at the screen and said, "Hello Jim."

"Hello," Beckett's father replied. He looked past his son in law and said to his daughter with a smile, "Katie."

"Hey Dad, how's Denmark?" Beckett asked him.

"Very nice," Jim replied. "Though I haven't had the chance to see much and I'm not sure I will."

"That's not fun," Eliza said.

"Hello Eliza, Julia," Jim said smiling at them when he spotted where they were. "How was your day?"

"Fun, we saw Daddy's game," Eliza said first.

"Then Mommy and Daddy got a case," Julia continued.

"We came home and made art that spins," Eliza said next.

"Then I went to see Mommy and Daddy at the station and got a new horse," Julia said.

"And then we did art when she was back home," Eliza said.

"And then Mommy and Daddy came home, we had a picnic dinner and now we're playing golf," Julia finished.

For a while no one said anything before Jim shook himself and said, "Well it sounds like you had a very busy day."

"Yeah, especially Mommy and Daddy," Julia replied.

Jim laughed slightly and he said to his son in law, "How did the game go?"

"Very well, we won by two points," Castle answered.

"Ten to eight," Beckett said as she knew her husband wasn't going to finish that.

"Congratulations," Jim told him. "And a case?"

"There was a lady and she was… hurt," Julia said, glancing at her sister. "Mommy and Daddy were there so Brad asked them to help him."

"She's right, it was at the polo fields," Castle explained. "And we were working today."

"But Julia you went to the stables?" Jim asked her.

For the third time Julia explained what happened after she'd left the house and met up with Peter to make their way over to the station. But that time she left out the fact that Alexis' mother had met them outside the clinic and after on her way home. "We all have horses but we don't know about the pony yet," she said.

"Well there's a lot of time for it to grow up so you can decide about it later," Jim replied. "Anything else?" he then asked.

"What did you do Grandpapa?" Eliza asked.

"I had a very long lunch with the firms that will be at the conference tomorrow," Jim answered. "And I'll probably be in the conference room at the hotel all day too."

"Are you still gonna come for the dinner?" Eliza asked.

"I will," Jim promised. "I said I would because I need to watch you two while your parents are in Tahiti."

Julia smiled; since it had already been decided between her parents and grandfather that he would stay with them during the three weeks he had off after the conference; and told him, "Good we want you to come here."

"'lexis' mother is gonna come too," Eliza said.

"Who… you mean Meredith?" Jim asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Eliza said. "But me and Jules hope she doesn't, she doesn't like Mommy."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Jim said, seeing the gesture from his daughter and knowing she wanted them to change the subject. "I just remembered that I got you two a little something from here, actually three since I got something for your sister too."

"Thanks Grandpapa," Eliza said happily. "What is it?"

"Oh no, you'll find out when I come home," Jim told her.

"Dad you should go to bed," Beckett said, looking at her watch. "It's extremely late."

"I know, I just had the chance to see you all and wanted to take it," Jim replied. "But I love you Julia, Eliza and I'll definitely see you on Wednesday."

"Good, I love you Grandpapa," Eliza said.

"I love you too, try to have fun if you can Grandpapa," Julia added.

"Thank you, girls I'll try," Jim said as Eliza was nodding her head rapidly. "Martha I'm sorry we didn't get to talk but I'm guessing you're doing alright?"

"I am," Castle's mother said with a laugh. "The girls explained what I did as well so there wasn't much for me to add. Enjoy your time there not working."

"Thank you," Jim said with a nod. "Katie, Richard I hope your case won't be too difficult."

"I think we've got a possible lead so that's a start," Castle said before nodding to his father in law and saying goodnight to him.

"Even though it is late I'm glad you called Dad," Beckett said.

"Of course, I love you Katie," Jim said.

"Love you Dad, see you on Wednesday," Beckett replied. When the screen went dark she breathed out and said, "Okay, should we get to the game again?"

"Love think we should grab some milk for them?" Castle asked.

"And some cookies?" Beckett said. She smiled when the girls gasped and said, "Just a cookie each," to them.

"Okay but what about the game?" Julia asked.

"You two play, I think your mom and I are going to sit it out tonight," Castle said.

Beckett was surprised when the two didn't protest and she and her husband went to the kitchen saying, "I'm confused."

"No, they might be thinking we're tired from investigating," Castle replied. "Either that or they think us being away from them will make us forget about bedtime," he added.

Beckett laughed and said, "Probably the latter." She then took her phone out of her pocket as it rang shortly after and she hurriedly answered it saying, "Dad?"

"Yes, what is Alexis' mother doing there?" Jim asked.

Sighing Beckett told her father about Meredith being at the house, at the game, the clinic and after speaking to Julia.

"That sounds a bit… stalker like," Jim said after thinking that over. "But almost roundabout. You'll be alright?"

"Yes," Beckett said since her father was speaking to her. "I don't think we need to worry about her doing anything dangerous."

"But why is she going to the dinner?" Jim asked.

"She is Alexis' mother, I can't be outright rude to her," Beckett replied. "So she'll be here Wednesday and then I'm sure she'll leave since Rick isn't paying any attention to her."

"Okay," Jim said though he wasn't sure. "Just as long as you're okay. I'll let you know when I land."

"Alright Dad, we'll see you later," Beckett told him before she hung up. "I wonder if in a sick way she wants us all to freak out like this."

"Who knows," Castle replied as he then went to pour out some milk. "But we should stop thinking it over. That'll be the last time we have to talk about it right?"

"It will," Beckett said with a nod. "But you don't want to play with them?" Studying her husband, she said with a smile, "You're tired?"

"A little," Castle said.

"Alright, then I know something we can play with them," Beckett said. She took one of the glasses and told him, "Let's go."

Castle didn't bother to try to ask her what she had in mind as he knew she wasn't going to say but he couldn't help wondering what exactly she had in mind before they were going back inside the family room to find the girls almost finishing their game.

"Are you two keeping score?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"No, just for fun," Julia said as she got the ball to the 'hole' first. "Can we play something else now?"

"Your mom had an idea," Castle said. "For us to play with you this time."

"What is it?" Eliza asked interestedly.

"Really we can play a video game?" Julia asked as she watched her mother go onto the TV and put it to the console that was Castle's.

"I think this means a racing game you two," Martha told them.

"Good we didn't get to play that for a long time," Eliza said, almost bouncing over to her mother.

"Is there a reason why?" Martha said after her son and daughter in law were sitting with the girls on their laps.

"Someone needs to go to bed soon," Beckett said, smiling at Eliza on her lap.

"Oh, so that means you decided to play this so you can just pick her up and go right to bed," Castle's mother stated.

Glancing at Eliza; who was more focused on Castle getting the game started on the TV; Beckett then said softly to her mother in law, "That was the idea but she doesn't need to know."

"Okay," Martha said slightly laughingly.

"So where do you want to drive?" Castle was asking the girls. "Europe?"

"No, let's go to the Islands," Julia said. "Will they have Tahiti?"

"I think it's Hawaii but you know we might go there one day," Castle told them.

"To race?" Eliza asked.

"No to see it," Julia told her.

"Kay, me and Mommy are gonna win," Eliza then said.

"You might be getting a bit too competitive now," Martha said to the girls.

"They'll be alright," Beckett said as she knew her mother in law was serious. "They know it's just a game."

"Yeah but when we learn to drive we'll drive just like this," Julia said. She smiled when the three adults looked at her and said, "I'm kidding."

"We'll teach you how to drive," Castle said before he got the game started.

"I know," Julia said, smiling back at him.

"Well first thing I can teach you right here, hold onto the wheel," Castle said jokingly.

"Are you two ready?" Beckett asked. She wasn't surprised when Castle gave her a look but that was all he could do as the race started on the screen and she had to help Eliza with her steering.

"Oh wonderful," Martha said when the race had finished and Beckett and Eliza had won. "You seem to do well with these," she told her daughter in law.

"That's because she always drove her squad car," Castle said jokingly.

"Richard, you really should think about what you just said," Martha told him.

"I know what I said but I still stand by it," Castle said. He saw that Eliza was looking at him and he pretended to sniff saying, "She never shared."

Beckett reached over and tugged on his earlobe, doing so gently as the girls giggled and she then said, "I think we should have our dessert."

"Cookies!" Eliza said, trying to make her voice sound gruff.

"Don't eat them like Cookie Monster!" Julia said jokingly as they sat around the coffee table where their milk and a cookie for everyone was.

"I won't," Eliza said. "He doesn't get very many cookies."

"So you noticed that?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Eliza said before she took a bite of her cookie.

"You know," Castle said. "There is an episode recorded."

"Can we watch it?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"We don't have time," Beckett said. "But it'll stay on the list so you don't need to worry about it sweetie."

"Does that mean I have to go now?" Eliza said as she finished the last of her milk.

"You do," Beckett said. "But you're going to take a bath."

"I'll say goodnight to you," Martha said. "It's been a busy day," she said as her son looked at her.

"Were they too much for you?" Beckett asked in slight concern.

"No, just a busy day," Martha commented.

"Who is he Mother?" Castle asked.

"No one at the moment but I'm hoping at the very least to secure a date when I get back to the city," Martha replied. She looked at the girls who'd come over to her and told them with a smile, "I'm not going to get married; I know you're wondering. He's just a very nice man."

Sharing a look with her sister Eliza moved then with Julia to hug their grandmother before she said, "Night Gram, I love you."

"I love you too Eliza," Martha said before sharing a kiss with her. "And you as well Julia, I love you too."

"Love you Gram, night," Julia said before they got up. She went up with her parents while Martha was taking the glasses and plate to the kitchen and she said, "Do I need to take a shower at the same time?"

"That would be helpful," Beckett said, taking her hand when they reached her room, going inside.

"What are you gonna do now?" Julia asked her mother. "Help Daddy?"

"He's fine," Beckett replied.

"Are you gonna almost fall asleep?" Julia said.

"No," Beckett replied. "I'm going to take a shower myself and then change into my pajamas."

"Oh," Julia said, slightly startled. "And Daddy?"

"He doesn't need to," Beckett said. "Do you need any help?"

"Nope, I'm a big girl I can do it by myself," Julia said.

"Alright but yell to your daddy if you need it," Beckett told her. After her daughter had nodded she then went to hers and Castle's room locking that door behind her and then into the bathroom. She took her shower quickly and stepped out into the room with her towel wrapped around her before she heard a knock at the door. "Rick?" she called.

"Yeah, the girls are together in Eliza's room," Castle called. "They're letting me change."

"Hold on," Beckett told him as she hurried to open the door. "You're sure you didn't get this set?"

"Mother knows they're on their own," Castle said. When his wife gave him a look he smiled and said, "I swear I didn't, Julia knew I needed to change so she told me."

"Then go change," Beckett told him simply.

"Right," Castle said, looking down at her body.

"Rick, go," Beckett said simply and sternly.

"Sure," Castle said but that time he did move, walking away from her and going to get his pajamas. As he was changing he kept an eye on his wife while she removed the towel around her and pulled on her clothes. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that he wasn't aroused by the time she was clothed. He was aware they needed to get their daughters in bed and he couldn't help being exhausted after what had felt like a long day.

"You know what we're doing when we get back," Beckett told her husband as they went to brush their teeth quickly.

"Do we have to," Castle groaned.

"How are your arms and shoulders?" Beckett said to him simply.

Sighing Castle nodded and then worked quickly with his toothbrush until he was rinsing out his mouth. "Julia was okay?" he asked.

"Yes, why?" Beckett said.

"I was hoping for an issue with the shower she needed your help with," Castle said.

Beckett merely smiled; as she knew he meant wanting their oldest to still need them; and then took his hand as they were both ready to return to their daughters. Walking over to their youngest's room she said, "She fell asleep?"

"Yeah, I helped her down but didn't cover her," Julia whispered. "And I said goodnight to her already."

"Okay," Beckett replied as she allowed Castle to pass her to get to the bed first.

"Love you sweetheart," he murmured to the little girl after he'd bent over and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too Eliza, sweet dreams," Beckett whispered as she kissed her forehead as well. She tucked her firmly in and after they'd pet Rita she left with Castle and Julia to go to the latter's room.

"So… what could I do now?" Julia asked, checking the time and suddenly realizing she had almost an hour until she needed to go to bed.

"We would have stayed up until she needed to go to bed," Castle said, seeing Julia looking at her clock. "I think there was too much today for her."

"And for you too," Beckett said.

"I'm not tired," Julia protested. She then became serious and said, "Think I can talk to you Mommy?"

"I'll get you some tea love," Castle said, immediately leaving.

"Does he care?" Julia asked her mother with slight concern.

"He would have said," Beckett replied with a smile. "Now what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked, closing the door to give them some privacy.

"I heard Brad say that the victim wanted to be a man," Julia said after hesitating for a moment. She was surprised when her mother smiled as if knowingly and she said, "Can I know what that means?"

"You can," Beckett reassured her before sitting next to her. "And what that means is what Brad said, she wanted to become a man."

"Can you do that?" Julia asked in surprise.

"You can," Beckett said. "But people who change their gender; they're called transgender; only do so because they don't feel comfortable with how they were born. Do you remember Chaz from _Dancing With the Stars_?"

"Yep," Julia said with a nod. She opened her mouth before she said, "He was a… girl?"

"He was born a girl, yes," Beckett said. "And that girl's name was Chastity Bono." When her daughter looked like she'd realized something she nodded telling her, "Cher's daughter, yes."

"I thought it was funny he had the same name as her," Julia said. "But… how do you do that?"

"That's a little more difficult for me to explain but it's more because I don't know the process exactly," Beckett said. "It's done through surgery I think and I believe hormones are involved as well."

"Oh, I don't want to be a boy," Julia said quickly.

"I knew," Beckett said with a smile. "You're just wondering."

"Do people get scared of that?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Beckett said. "And I know you're going to ask but your daddy and I would have stayed friends with Eileen if she had ended up becoming Evander."

"Good," Julia said with a smile. She then grew serious and said, "Is that why someone hurt her?"

"We don't know," Beckett told her honestly. "It's possible but I don't think it really fits."

"No?" Julia asked.

"Right now it doesn't," Beckett replied. "But I could be wrong of course." When she saw the way her daughter was looking at her she said, "I can be wrong sometimes."

"Not a lot," Julia said. Seeing the look on her mother's face then she knew that she wanted to change the subject so she quickly said, "Are you excited for the holidays now?"

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile and grateful she'd changed the subject. "I know you are since you'll have school off."

"Yeah and when school's over that means I danced in the competition already," Julia said thoughtfully.

"Sweetie," Beckett said, getting her attention. "You'll do fine."

"I hope so, I hope we can get third at least," Julia said firmly.

"Because of Mari?" Beckett guessed.

"It's her first competition," Julia said with a nod. "And I want to get that at least that way she knows she's good."

"Does it bother you that she probably won't be a dancer when she gets older?" Beckett asked.

Shaking her head vehemently Julia said, "I know she wants to design things and this is just a hobby. But that's okay she still wants to dance with me."

"Has she had the chance to make anything yet?" Beckett asked, knowing Mari had experimented with sewing by then after her parents had been told about her desire to design.

"Not really, she's still learning how to sew," Julia said. "She's lucky Rebecca knows how to make clothes."

"She is," Beckett said in agreement.

"Do you know how to?" Julia asked her mother interestedly.

"No, I only know how to fix clothes," Beckett said. "Since that was all your grandmama knew how to do herself."

"If Mari made a dress for you, you would wear it right?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Beckett said. "I would trust her to design something she knows I would wear. What if she designed something for you?"

With a wide smile Julia said, "Yep."

"That's it?" Beckett said with a smile.

"What else am I gonna say?" Julia said, still smiling.

"I was just wondering," Beckett replied. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

Thinking that over Julia shook her head and said, "No that was it. She studied her mother and asked, "What do you want to ask me?"

"You're too smart," Beckett replied with a smile. "Are you okay after what happened earlier?"

"Yeah, I don't care about her," Julia said. "I care more about Lottie. What do you think her pony is going to be? A colt or filly?"

"I don't think I can really say sweetie," Beckett replied, not surprised that she didn't want to talk about her big sister's mother. "We'd need to wait to see when it's born."

Julia made a face playfully and as her mother laughed softly she realized something that she did want to ask. She tried to think of how to say it but then felt her cheeks flush as she became embarrassed.

"What?" Beckett asked when she caught that.

"How… how did the… the pony get there?" Julia asked.

Since her daughter was nearly whispering Beckett almost didn't hear the question but she soon realized what she asked and she said, "It's a little too soon to tell you how it works Julia."

"Why?" she asked, expecting her mother to say no.

"You'll learn this school year sweetie but not yet," Beckett said.

"I have to learn it in school?" Julia said in confusion.

"No, I'll tell you before they teach you because you need to learn from me," Beckett replied.

"But…" Julia started to say, more confused than ever.

"Your teacher will tell you and I'll start then," Beckett replied. "But that might not be until next year so you don't need to worry about it."

Julia looked as if she wanted to protest that but she knew her mother would stick to what she had said so instead she told her, "I was wondering."

"I was the same at your age," Beckett replied with a slight smile. "And yes, your grandmama told me but she did the same that I'm going to for you."

After nodding Julia said, "You won't tell daddy about this will you?"

"He talked to your sister about this at the same age," Beckett said.

Opening her mouth Julia realized she didn't have much to say to that so she said, "Okay but… will he talk to me too?"

"That's up to you," Beckett said simply. She wasn't surprised when her daughter shook her head and she said, "He won't mind, we talked about this already and he said he would leave it to me if that was what made you more comfortable."

"It does, thank you," Julia said. She then moved and hugged her tightly saying, "Daddy's taking a long time, isn't he?"

"I know, I think he's giving us some time to talk," Beckett said, glancing over at the door.

"Should we go get him?" Julia asked. Before her mother could answer though she heard a knock on the door and said, "You can come in Daddy."

"You're finished?" Castle asked once he was inside.

"Yep, can I write in my diary?" Julia asked her parents.

"Go ahead, we'll wait for you," Beckett answered.

Hugging her mother in thanks Julia hopped off her bed and rushed over to her desk and got her diary out while Castle was sitting next to Beckett on the bed. She got her diary ready and then blew out a breath of air.

"What is it sweetie?" Beckett asked, looking over from her husband as they'd been talking quietly to each other in Irish while they'd began to wait.

"This might take a while," Julia replied.

"You have the time," Castle said as he knew what his wife would say in response.

When her mother nodded to her Julia said a quick thank you before she turned to her diary and began writing.

 _November 10th, 2019_

 _A lot of stuff happened today and I almost didn't think I could put everything but I have some time so I can. So I should start in order so I don't get all messed up._

 _First was Daddy's polo game and he won, he scored nine of the goals there were (there were ten of them) but he got hit on the nose and it was bleeding. I got so scared but lucky David was there and helped him, he's okay now. But after 'lexis' mother was there… but that wasn't the weird thing about her but I'll say more later._

 _Then Mommy and Daddy got a case after I left with Gram and Lizzy and it was someone they knew and me too 'cause she played with Mommy on the all-girls polo team. I didn't know her too much but it's sad 'cause that happened of course and she had a wife too so that's even sadder._

"Daddy how do you spell sadder?" Julia said, pausing then.

"S-a-d-d-e-r," Castle spelled for her. "Did you get it right?"

"Yep, thanks," Julia said before she turned back to her diary.

 _But so far, they don't know who did it yet and they just started to work on the case._

 _And then later I thought something was wrong with Mommy but it didn't feel that bad so I thought maybe something happened with Daddy. So I went to the station; Peter was outside riding his bike so he came with me so he could see the station. When I got to the station Daddy was okay but what happened was Mommy was really worried about a horse that was hurt and then it didn't have enough to eat. But it's our horse now… or it's mine 'cause Mommy and Daddy gave her to me. She's so beautiful and I called her Charlotte, I'm gonna call her Lottie._

 _Then after I left the station with Peter_

Glancing over at Julia as she was crossing out something noisily Beckett murmured to her husband, " _She's serious about needing time_."

" _I know, I kind of want to see what she's writing_ ," Castle commented.

" _Not a chance_ ," Beckett said with a smile before she then changed the subject as their oldest was continuing to write.

 _I forgot when we left the clinic after I got to meet Lottie that 'lexis' mother was there talking to Daddy but I got us away from her. Now I can say that when I left the station with Peter she drove up to where we were and asked if we wanted a ride. That scared me really bad but I remembered my manners like Mommy and Daddy taught me and said no thanks. I still think about how come she did that but I don't know why… I wish it's 'cause I'm 'lexis' little sister but I don't think so. I saw her looking at my mommy outside the clinic and she looked like she was jealous of her._

Julia paused then and looked over at her parents, seeing the way her father was smiling at her mother before Beckett laughed softly and shook her head. She smiled widely and then turned back to her diary to write again.

 _But I think also she knows that she couldn't take Daddy away from Mommy and it makes her… annoyed. I think she's still gonna try though and I hope Mommy stays away from her but she's probably gonna do that already._

 _Oh, I need to stop there (I don't have anything else anyways, everything went normal we got dinner and talked to 'lexis who's gonna go out to dinner with Louis tomorrow night) I just remembered something to give Mommy and Daddy._


	17. Sun Went Down The Sky (Part 2)

"All finished?" Beckett asked when there was no scratching of the pen for a while.

"Yeah," Julia said before reaching into her desk drawer. "Here," she said after she'd put away her diary and then grabbed what she'd been looking for.

"You took these?" Castle asked when he looked at the pictures that she handed his wife.

"Yep, while we were over by the water," Julia said, watching her mother closely to see what she would think of the shots she'd taken of them together on the boulders at Apple Canyon. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think this one is the best," Beckett said with a smile as she held up the one where she and Castle were leaning their foreheads together. "And you did a good job with the colors of the leaves behind us."

"I love fall," Julia said though she was very pleased.

"They're great," Beckett assured her, not surprised when her daughter wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "We'll leave these on your desk and see what we can do with them… later."

"Okay, now what can we do?" Julia asked hopefully as she took the pictures back to her desk.

"What would you like to do? You still have some time," Castle said, looking at her clock.

"Tell me a story," Julia said, looking at her mother.

Since the girl was looking directly at her Beckett asked, "You want me to tell you a story about me and Patrick?"

"Yes please," Julia said, getting up on the bed at her mother's direction.

"I'd like to hear one too," Castle said, smiling when Beckett looked back over her shoulder at him.

"I think I have one I haven't told you yet," Beckett said after thinking for a moment. "This was near the end of our time at the Academy and we were aware already the two of us were going to get some recommendations after our training. My dad took us out to have brunch one Sunday before the graduation as a kind of congratulations for us both."

"Where did you go?" Julia asked.

" _Tavern on the Green_ ," Beckett answered. "He and I met Patrick there and we sat at a table against the glass in the greenhouse section."

* * *

 _"Here's to both of you," Jim said, holding up his cup of peppermint tea which they were sharing a kettle of. "Congratulations on your training."_

 _"It's a little early for that," Darnley said jokingly. "What?" he asked with slight laughter as Beckett was looking at him._

 _"I think we're okay," Beckett said simply. "How are you Dad? I haven't talked to you for a while."_

 _"I'm good, working on a case right now of course," Jim answered._

 _"Will you be going to trial?" Darnley asked as he was aware of what Beckett's father did._

 _"So far yes but you know they could take it away from me," Jim said, directing that mostly to his daughter._

 _"Hence why I said it was early for us," Darnley told Beckett._

 _Rolling her eyes slightly Beckett then said, "What are you planning on doing after this Dad?"_

 _"Heading home, I need to rest after this week," Jim replied._

 _"Busy week?" Darnley said._

 _"Mostly working on the case and seeing what the city council has on my client," Jim replied. "But it looks good so far. What are you going to do yourselves?"_

 _Smiling at his guess that she and Darnley were going to be doing something Beckett said, "Likely just walk around the park."_

 _"Your city is really beautiful in autumn," Darnley commented._

 _"Isn't DC?" Jim asked as he'd been there before._

 _"It is," Darnley said. "But it's different there… hard to explain."_

 _"Do you miss it?" Jim asked._

 _"Oh, sure but for now this'll be home," Darnley replied. He took a breath and said, "Maybe you can help me?"_

 _"Help you?" Jim said in slight surprise. "Do you need some legal advice?"_

 _"No," Beckett told her father. "He's trying to convince me to find a place with him to live together."_

* * *

"What?" Castle and Julia said at the same time when Beckett told them that.

"We lived together but only for about two months," she replied.

"Didn't you say you met him at the restaurant?" Julia asked.

"This was before he moved into my apartment," Beckett replied. "The rent got too high at his and he was already thinking about going to DC by then. But that's a story for another time."

"Just answer this one question," Castle said. "How did it go? You only had one bathroom in that place you mentioned to me."

"Yes but we learned to share," Beckett said, glancing at him.

"Oh sure you shared with him," Castle said. He laughed when she reached back as if to hit him or pinch him before Julia spoke.

"Keep going Mommy or else you won't finish before I need to go to bed," the girl protested though she was smiling slightly at them.

"Okay so my dad didn't really help Patrick in convincing me about that," Beckett continued. "Luckily our food came after and we didn't talk about it anymore as we were all hungry."

"What'd you have?" Castle asked.

Smiling slightly at the question; which she wasn't surprised her husband asked; Beckett told him, "They both had the steak and eggs."

"Oh, good choice, they do that well," Castle said.

"What about you Mommy?" Julia asked.

"Their Eggs Benedict," Beckett replied. "So we ate and discussed… different things. Mostly avoiding what we were going to do after graduation since your grandpapa was worried about me."

"He didn't stop you though," Julia said.

"He couldn't," Beckett replied. "I was an adult and while I knew that he was concerned I had to do it. But I did my best to be as careful as I could." When Julia nodded she then said, "After we left the restaurant we said goodbye to my father and Darnley showed me what was in the bag he'd brought with him."

* * *

 _"A baseball bat?" Beckett asked in surprise as she took the slugger bat from him._

 _"Yeah, come on it'll be fun," Darnley told her. "Look I brought my mitt and my special balls… oh wait…"_

 _"You just said that to say the word balls," Beckett told him, socking him on the shoulder which she knew wouldn't hurt as they were both bundled up._

 _"Perhaps but I do have a few in my bag," Darnley replied._

 _"Are they special?" Beckett said teasingly._

 _"No," Darnley replied. "But come on, let's play. Please?"_

* * *

"He played baseball too?" Julia asked.

"Yes," Beckett said, having just remembered to not tell the word play her friend had done. "He was a fan of the Nationals down in DC. But he didn't really have to try and convince me to play for too long."

"Of course not," Castle said, looking at his wife when she turned to him again.

"Anyways," Beckett said, giving him a look though she didn't really put much behind it. "We headed out to a clear spot and away from everyone and started to get ready to play."

* * *

 _"So what're we doing?" Darnley asked his friend as they were taking off their coats and scarves but leaving on their gloves._

 _"Pop a few fly balls, what else can we do?" Beckett asked as she took the bat that he held out to her._

 _"Alright, how're you with throwing those?" Darnley said._

 _"Good, just throw the ball already," Beckett told him seriously before she smiled._

 _Throwing the baseball then Darnley watched as Beckett managed to hit it and he hurried to get underneath it, catching it in the mitt he'd put on. "So you can do that," he said to her teasingly._

 _"You don't want to switch?" Beckett asked him._

 _"Two more," Darnley replied to her. "Ready?"_

 _"Go ahead," Beckett told him. She hit the next two before they switched and she was surprised to find that he could hit well too. When they switched again she said, "Why don't we toss?"_

 _"Awesome, I brought my newest mitt just for that," Darnley said before he took the bat and went to his bag to switch them._

 _As they were throwing back and forth Beckett said, "Did you go last night?"_

 _"Yep and it was fun but no shows," Darnley replied. "Oh I did see someone but he was with someone else."_

 _"Sorry to hear that," Beckett said._

 _"That ever happen to you?" Darnley asked._

 _"Once, a guy in high school my friend Maddie and I both liked," Beckett said. "He had a girlfriend at the time."_

 _"Is that the one you said she was almost stalking and roped you into it?" Darnley asked._

* * *

"Wait, that was her idea?" Castle interrupted his wife in shock.

"Yes, did she tell you it was mine?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she sighed but then said, "I took the blame from her since that night when we got to her house her father was furious. We stuck to that and I guess in her mind that's how it happened."

"Did you like that boy too?" Julia asked, having been watching her parents' conversation.

"I did, but it was essentially just like since we were both young," Beckett replied. "So, back to my story we tossed back and forth until we were getting too cold and bundled back up."

* * *

 _"So dahling," Darnley said as he tossed Beckett's scarf around her neck. "How are you doing?"_

 _"Fine, believe me there's nothing to talk about. I have no love life at the moment," Beckett replied, putting one end of the scarf over the other. "And I'm happy about that. I'm focused."_

 _"But you should have fun," Darnley replied._

 _"And that," Beckett said as she fixed his scarf he'd put on himself. "Is why I have you."_

 _"So you're happy I'm here?" Darnley said._

 _"Of course," Beckett replied before kissing his cheek. "So want to walk?"_

 _"Let's ambulate," Darnley replied before she slipped her arm into his. They began to walk together down the path they were nearby and once they were out of the leaves he said, "I'm so glad we're finished with summer."_

 _"I know, it's brutal here," Beckett said. She glanced at him and then said, "What's on your mind?"_

 _"Would you ever consider leaving the city to live in a house?" Darnley asked._

 _"Is your rent going up again?" Beckett asked him._

 _"No I'm just wondering," Darnley said._

 _"We talked about this before," Beckett then reminded him. "And you know I'd prefer to live in the city if it's possible. And it's my hope I can continue to afford it."_

 _"I don't blame you there," Darnley replied._

 _"What are you doing?" Beckett asked with a smile as he moved away from her._

 _"Did this when I was a kid," Darnley said as he lay down among some leaves. He then began to move his arms up and down and told her, "Love the smell of these leaves."_

 _"And the bugs and dirt?" Beckett asked._

 _"That's what you're for," Darnley told her._

 _"What to pick off nits?" Beckett teased him._

 _"The bugs you mentioned," Darnley replied. "Just a little more and… done." He got up carefully and said, "What do you think?"_

 _"You started someone's raking," Beckett told him teasingly. "But it looks nice; it does look like an angel."_

 _"Thank you now how's the back?" Darnley said._

 _"It's fine," Beckett replied. "Come back to my place."_

 _"Sure," Darnley said before they were arm in arm again. "Hey why don't we play in the street outside your building?"_

 _"Um, no," Beckett told him._

 _"Come on why not?" Darnley pretended to whine._

 _"Because I don't want to break a window and have to answer for it," Beckett said simply. "Come up to my place and we'll paint our nails and gossip."_

 _"No, mani-pedis," Darnley said eagerly. "You're supposed to take me to that place near you."_

 _"Alright," Beckett said, smiling at his exuberance before they walked together down to the salon that she frequented._

* * *

"Was that fun?" Julia asked her mother.

"Definitely," Beckett replied. "We had a blast especially since he joked about painting his nails black for the graduation."

"There's more to that story though," Castle said.

Looking at her husband Beckett then smiled and said, "You could tell?"

"Yes neither of you got your nails painted," Castle stated.

"Is he right?" Julia asked, watching her mother closely.

"He is," Beckett replied. "We did go to my place and he painted my toenails then."

"What about your hands?" Julia asked interestedly.

Beckett was smiling again and she told her daughter, "I couldn't really; they allow clear paint in the rules at the Academy but not colored paint… at least when I was last there."

"What happened when he was painting your toes?" Julia then said.

"We mostly talked," Beckett said. When she saw her daughter wasn't really satisfied with that she then said, "Alright, it was about your daddy."

"It was?" both Castle and Julia said at the same time.

"I'll explain," Beckett replied as she was doing her best to recall that conversation they'd had.

* * *

 _"So how's the book?" Darnley asked as he was shaking the bottle of nail polish that she'd picked out for him to use._

 _"Good, why?" Beckett asked as she then realized the newest Storm book was on the table next to the couch._

 _"Just wondering," Darnley replied. He could feel his friend's eyes on him and looking up at her he finally explained, "After seeing this guy I'm just wondering how much you like the book. How far are you in?"_

 _"I finished," Beckett said simply._

 _"When did you get the book?" Darnley asked in surprise._

 _"Two days ago," Beckett responded._

* * *

"It only took you two days to finish it?" Castle asked, obviously startled.

"I enjoyed the book," Beckett said, seeing that Julia was covering her mouth with both her hands and knowing she was laughing.

"You heard that right?" Castle asked their daughter.

"Mommy's always liked your books, I know," Julia said. "Did you like that one?"

"That's what Patrick asked," Beckett replied.

* * *

 _"Do you usually do that?" Darnley said._

 _"Do what?" Beckett asked._

 _"Gobble down his books," Darnley replied._

 _Rolling her eyes Beckett said, "I do that with other books."_

 _"How many?" Darnley asked. When his friend glared at him he held up his hands before going back to painting her toes. "So I guess the next obvious thing to ask is how you liked it."_

 _"I…" Beckett started to say before she trailed off a little._

 _"Go ahead, you know I don't tell anyone," Darnley assured her._

 _"I loved it," Beckett said honestly. "You should read his books."_

 _"Well… let me take a look-see when I finish," Darley replied. When he had finished painting her toes he closed the bottles and after washing his hands quickly picked up the book on his way back to the couch._

 _Beckett watched him reading the first chapter, relaxing while doing so and waiting to see what he would think of it._

 _"Okay," Darnley said slowly. "I think I'll be borrowing this."_

 _"You're that interested?" Beckett asked with a smile._

 _"I am, this isn't his first Storm book?" Darnley asked._

 _"No… maybe you should read them in order," Beckett replied. "Get me a piece of paper and I'll write down the Storm books for you." As her friend got up to do that for her she let him know, "You should know he has books before this one."_

 _"How is he concerning women?" Darnley asked as he handed her the paper and pen he'd grabbed._

 _"Alright, he's not a misogynist," Beckett replied. "You… you're thinking of his divorce, aren't you?"_

 _"To a degree," Darnley told her honestly. "But I get the feeling you wouldn't really read his books if he was."_

 _"According to the paper it was amicable by the way. And you should know me better than that," Beckett replied before she wrote down all the books she had so far from the writer. "Enjoy."_

 _"Here's hoping I will," Darnley replied. "Okay, so what do you think about the exam later this week?"_

* * *

"Is that all you talked about; Daddy?" Julia asked when her mother stopped at that point.

"It is and really Rick besides when he read the books we didn't do it again," Beckett said, directing the last to her husband.

"I remember him talking to us about that in DC," Castle commented.

"He was alright with them," Beckett said honestly. "But he confessed to me he likes the Moor and Green books more."

"Good," Julia said, getting her parents' attention. "Those are really good."

"Have you been reading our books without us knowing?" Beckett asked as she tickled the girl.

"No," Julia said, laughing softly when her mother stopped. "I just know and people say all the time they are."

"She has a good point," Castle told his wife, smiling when she rolled her eyes though she had a slight smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"So I have to go to bed huh?" Julia asked knowingly when the two turned their heads to look at her.

"It took a while to tell that story," Beckett said, getting up off the bed with Castle.

"But it was fun," he told the girl who nodded rapidly. "Love you Julia, sweet dreams," Castle then told her after kissing her forehead.

"Love you too Daddy, hope you can rest," Julia said. "'Cause of your game."

"I will, your mom will make sure," Castle said, smiling as she nodded rapidly.

After the two had shared a kiss Beckett went over to them and leaned down, kissing Julia before she said, "I love you too sweetie, we'll try and see Lottie soon."

"When she gets back to the stables?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded once she said, "Good. I love you Mommy."

After he and Beckett had said goodnight to both Julia and Macca at the end of the bed Castle took her hand and led her to Eliza's room where they checked on her before doing so once more with Julia. Satisfied that their daughters were alright he walked down to their room where he started to close the door behind him.

"Hold on," Beckett said quickly. "I don't think you're going to be doing that yet." She smiled when he groaned and she told him, "You have to Rick."

"Alright," Castle said. "Want me to get the ice?"

"No," Beckett told him before she left him.

Going over to the bed Castle sat down before he got back up to look outside, seeing that it had started to rain once more. He sighed before he heard his wife walking down the hall and turned to see she was carrying a bag of ice. "You'll be gentle, right?" he asked jokingly after she'd closed the door behind her.

"Yes you don't really need to worry about it," Beckett said. "I know what to do. And why isn't your shirt off?"

"Modesty?" Castle asked.

"While you're by yourself?" Beckett retorted with her eyebrow slightly raised.

"Fine," Castle said though there wasn't really any annoyance behind it. He pulled off his pajama shirt and then walked over to the bed to lie on his stomach. He turned his head when she walked back to him and said, "Are you still tired?"

"Yeah, you?" Beckett asked. She was relieved when he nodded his head and she told him, "Then we should get some rest that way Brad's not telling us off tomorrow."

"He wouldn't," Castle commented.

"You want to risk that?" Beckett asked as she wrapped the bag of ice in one of their thinner towels and set it on his shoulder. When he grunted she smiled and then told him, "But really, I don't think I could work up the energy."

"You were still arousing earlier," Castle told her.

"I saw you watching me so I'm aware," Beckett replied with a smile at the speed he'd spoken.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see you," Castle added as he relaxed then. Or attempted to as the ice was getting colder on his skin.

"And I got to see you too, not as much but at least I got to see you," Beckett replied.

"So what did you think at the game?" Castle asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"You looked very nice," Beckett said, rolling her eyes as she knew that was what he wanted to hear. "Now quiet or else I'll make this last longer."

Castle wanted to protest that she wouldn't but decided not to risk it before he turned and rested his chin on his pillow as they waited for her to switch to his other shoulder. When she'd done so he looked at her again, watching her studying his back before he opened his mouth to speak a second after she began to do so herself.

"How tense are you?" Beckett asked.

"This massage is going to hurt, isn't it?" Castle asked in response.

"Are you that bad?" Beckett said.

"Probably," Castle said. "Don't forget about those sledgehammers we were using too."

"I remember," Beckett said easily, rubbing the tips of her fingers over the middle of his back. "Rick?"

"Yes?" Castle said, glancing over his shoulder at her again.

"You and Julia never asked what Patrick and I did after our talk about your books," Beckett told him with a smile.

"Was it something you couldn't tell her?" Castle asked.

"No," Beckett replied, rolling her eyes slightly. "We started to talk about moving in together again. But I finally realized something and told him that if we did do that it'd become an issue. There were regulations of course and never mind the fact it was just a cover."

"That's true," Castle said.

"That was essentially what he said," Beckett replied. "But in the end, we still did."

"Why didn't you ever mention it before?" Castle asked as she took off the bag of ice finally.

"I've forgotten a lot of what we did," Beckett reminded him. "And again it was only two months."

"Great so now we're done-" Castle started to say as he sat up.

"Lay back down," Beckett said firmly, pointing to the bed. She wasn't surprised when her husband started to grumble but she didn't comment on it as she was busy getting the crème onto her hands.

"Kate," Castle said.

"I won't hurt you but you know what your back is like after this," Beckett said, the slightly minted crème scent hitting her nose. She got back on the bed and got on her knees next to him, reaching down to begin to massage at his right shoulder first.

"Ah, damn it," Castle groaned heavily as he could feel her working out a heavy knot first thing.

"Shh I had to," Beckett said as she wasn't surprised he had that reaction. She rubbed at him much more gently and smiled when he sighed hard. "I'll have to do that again."

Heaving an annoyed sigh that time Castle said, "Alright, at least you warned me." He then laughed when she pinched his side; not hurting him; and he told her honestly, "I really want to kiss you right now."

"Me too," Beckett said before she smiled as he looked back at her again.

"I'll be doing the same for you," Castle told her.

"I had a feeling," Beckett answered, finding another knot then.

After groaning as that one took a little bit more work to get out Castle then told her, "And you don't mind?"

"No," Beckett said. "Why would you think I would?" When he was quite she bit her lower lip for a moment before she said, "You're going to touch my breasts aren't you?"

"I was hoping to," Castle said, pretending to sound sheepish. "Just slightly."

"I'll see," Beckett said, hearing his question in that.

Castle nodded and remained still as she worked over all of his back though she had the most to work on his shoulders; especially his right. He sighed when she stopped and he got up, cupping the back of her neck before she could move to wash her hands and he kissed her. He was hungry against her lips, crushing them together before their tongues gently met at first. He tried not to shudder in pleasure as he could still taste the tea there and then pulled away so she could breathe, hoping she'd initiate another kiss.

"Hold on," Beckett said, holding up her hand to him. When he jerked back slightly at the scent she said, "I'll be back."

Watching her go Castle stood up and waited for her there next to the bed until she returned and he grabbed her, kissing her again. He held her tightly to him by the small of her back before carefully he let her go. "Get on the bed?" he asked her.

Without a word Beckett pulled off her dark blue shirt and then just looked at her husband as he stared at her with slightly wide eyes. "I thought we'd talked about this already," she told him.

"I didn't think you were serious," Castle said though he sounded delighted. He looked at her breasts and then said, "Maybe we should get on the bed still."

"Okay," Beckett said, trying not to laugh at his uncertainty. She sat with her legs crossed before he followed her, getting on his knees. "Wait," she said, stopping him.

Though he wanted to yell Castle said, "What?" as calmly as he could.

Beckett didn't answer and instead merely lay down on her back, watching him following her with his gaze. Soon after he was cupping his hands over her mounds and making her sigh. "How long are you going to-" she began to ask.

"That's it," Castle said, forcing his hands away from her. "If I do anything else we'll be in trouble."

"Isn't it more you will?" Beckett asked, glancing at his groin.

"And you, don't try to put this all on me," Castle replied though he smiled after he'd said that. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly before he pulled away and said, "I probably should get started."

"Most likely," Beckett told him as she turned around to lie on her stomach, looking over at him to see what he was doing.

"I don't think you want what you were using on me," Castle told her as he left the bed then to hurry into the bathroom. He grabbed the crème that he used on her before he went back to her and got some of the lotion ready on his hands. "Are you going to fall asleep?" he asked when he began.

"No, keep going," Beckett said before she turned her head to smile at him.

"That's because I'm not being so rough," Castle said. He then laughed when she pinched playfully at his thigh before he was quiet. He knew he should probably talk to her while he was working over her but found there was nothing to really say. And since she was silent as well he knew she was feeling the same so they were both quiet until he had finished.

Sitting up as he left her to wash his hands Beckett looked at her shirt that was next to her, debating for a while before she reluctantly put it on. She glanced back at her husband as he walked out to her she said, "Tired?"

"No, did you change your mind?" Castle asked, slightly surprised.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I don't need to go to bed this early."

Castle smiled as he sat next to her and told her, "No but if you're tired you shouldn't stop yourself." He wasn't surprised when she just gave him a look and he reached for his tablet that was on his nightstand. "Then I'll check my e-mails."

"So will I," Beckett replied, grabbing her own tablet. After they were quiet for a while she heard him make a sound and she asked, "Something good?"

"Results from my physical are in," Castle said, seeing the e-mail their hospital had sent him. "And I'm alright. What about you?"

"I was a week after you Rick it might take another one to get my own," Beckett replied with a smile.

"But if you haven't gotten anything yet then that's a good thing," Castle pointed out to her.

"It is," Beckett said with a nod. "Rudy e-mailed me."

"Oh yeah? How are he and Madeline doing?" Castle asked.

"Very well, they're moving in together," Beckett said. When her husband looked at her in surprise she smiled and handed him the tablet so he could read the e-mail. "She's having the same issue Patrick had when he was in the city."

"That makes sense then," Castle said. "And it's a good test to if they want to make it a for sure thing."

"I think we had the best idea for testing that," Beckett said, smiling again at him when he looked at her.

"That's true but it was more necessity than by choice," Castle said. "And yes I know she can't really pay her rent now but that's not what I meant."

"I understand," Beckett said with a nod. She glanced at his tablet and asked, "Anything?"

"Not really, just a few things here and there," Castle began. "Christophe sent me an e-mail he's engaged."

"That's good to hear," Beckett replied. "When are they planning on getting married?"

"In April," Castle replied. "That's all he knows they haven't talked about it more than that."

"Send him my congratulations," Beckett said before she turned her attention back to her tablet before she realized her husband had set aside his own.

"I've been thinking about it and I'd like a story," Castle said as he was quick to see her questioning look. "One that you couldn't really tell Julia."

"I don't really have one," Beckett said honestly. "We weren't lovers remember."

"No but did you ever say anything to anyone about that to make it seem like you were?" Castle asked.

Beckett thought that over for a moment before she then said, "I remember now, we were practicing the self-defense we knew one time and Patrick and I were split up."

When his wife trailed off and then looked at him he said, "Rizzio?" At her nod he quickly said, "I get the gist of it."

Nodding in thanks for that Beckett then said, "But it worked and no one really questioned if we were having sex."

"Did they ever ask Patrick for details?" Castle said.

"They did but he never said anything besides a few vague phrases," Beckett replied. When her husband looked at her she shrugged and said, "I told him to, it made it more believable."

"It sounds like it worked," Castle commented. "So no real stories."

"No, you?" Beckett replied.

Shaking his head Castle said, "I have too many that are salacious."

"No surprise there," Beckett commented. When her husband tried to tickle her side then she laughed and got out of the way of him before he was grabbing her. "You got lucky," she said, playfully pointing her finger in his face though he was trying to pull her closer to him. "Any further and I would have fallen out of the bed."

"I was aware already," Castle replied before she finally allowed him to hold her close against him. He brushed his lips against hers before he said, "We need to find something as a distraction."

"This isn't helping," Beckett told her as he tried to pull her even closer.

"I can't stop," Castle said simply as they were leaning their heads closer and closer together.

Kissing each other deeply Castle and Beckett held onto one another as tightly as they could to get as close as they could to each other. When they parted it was only for a moment to look at each other before they fell into yet another kiss.

When they had stopped Beckett wasn't sure how she'd ended up on her back and she sighed saying, "We have to stop."

"Not really," Castle said.

Smiling Beckett said, "You keep saying you're tired." She was slightly surprised when he groaned and lay on his stomach burying his face in his pillow. "Already?" she asked, touching his back.

"No, starting," Castle said into the pillow and hoping she could understand him.

"Turn over," Beckett told him. When he immediately did so she was taken aback but then glanced down at him.

"I said starting," Castle said quickly.

"So how did you like the pictures that Julia took of us?" Beckett asked him.

Relieved at her actually trying for a distraction Castle said, "They were great but she's insanely sneaky."

"A little bit like her father," Beckett replied. She laughed when he draped himself over her in response and she said against his lips that had ended up near hers, "This isn't going to help you."

"You can't feel me? Or lack of me I should say?" Castle asked.

"I can but if you stay where you are you're going to have some difficulties," Beckett pointed out to him.

With a playful growl Castle rolled off his wife and got onto his back before he watched her above him. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can and you're lucky Julia gave you permission for me to tell you," Beckett said with a smile.

"She did?" Castle asked.

"She knows us," Beckett replied easily. She then told her husband about what they'd talked about as he'd been getting her tea and when she finished she told him, "Insulted?"

"No, it's awkward," Castle said. "Especially for her since she started out her life hating men."

"She distrusted them," Beckett quickly said. "She didn't hate them."

"Still I don't know if I'd be comfortable either," Castle said honestly. "Probably would be better that way." Looking at her he said, "Are you going to be okay talking to her yourself?"

"Mmm-hmm, though I won't do what my mom did," Beckett told him.

"What?" Castle asked, unsure of what she meant though he knew about when his mother in law had explained family life to her.

"She used a book that had just drawings," Beckett said. "I'll use one with pictures too."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Castle asked.

"You didn't with Alexis?" Beckett responded.

"I did but Julia…" Castle started to say before he trailed off.

"She needs to know Rick, whatever her sexuality is she needs to know," Beckett said firmly. "I'm not leaving her in the dark."

"I just worry what she'll think of me or… Peter," Castle said.

"I don't think you need to worry about her Rick, she's smart," Beckett said, squeezing his hand gently. "Are you tired yet?"

"No," Castle said, sitting up carefully so he wouldn't run into her. "Look I was thinking about our plans for Tahiti," he told her as he grabbed his tablet.

"We're going for another reason?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"No," Castle said simply. "Do you want to visit anywhere though? We're going to be there for three days."

"I don't think we need to move from the house," Beckett said simply. "Are we going to be on our own?" she then asked as she realized she hadn't asked that. "Like last year."

"I think just on your birthday," Castle replied. "Why did you want to-" he began to ask.

"No," Beckett said with a smile, kissing his cheek gently. "I just want to be alone with you there."

Castle had three or four comments that likely would have earned him a playful sock on the shoulder or a slight pinch but he just smiled and leaned down to her, kissing her lips but as quickly as she'd done to his cheek. "That will be great."

"That's all you have?" Beckett asked him. When her husband shrugged she smiled and said, "Usually you'd turn that into an obviously dirty comment."

"The moment didn't feel like it needed it," Castle said.

"You're looking forward to going," Beckett stated.

"That should be obvious," Castle replied. "You're not?"

Beckett only smiled at him before he leaned over to her and gently kissed her before he suddenly deepened it. She was prepared for that so when he took her onto his lap she was ready, wrapping her arms tightly around him before they were dueling each other with their tongues.

Castle realized that he was destroying the distraction they were supposed to be having to facilitate them going to bed but he couldn't make himself stop in the slightest. When they finally parted he pressed his forehead against hers and murmured, "I can't stop Kate."

"I know," Beckett replied. "Neither can I." She pulled back enough to study him before she said, "Come on."

Surprised Castle couldn't protest that and he walked after her into the bathroom before he immediately realized her intent. "Kate this is going to be difficult," he told her seriously.

"It won't be, believe me," Beckett said.

Hearing the begging in her tone Castle knew she was serious so he nodded and followed her in disrobing after he'd locked the door behind them since the bedroom door was open. He stopped her from getting the tub ready and got it himself before she got in first. After she was in he followed her before he was on his knees turning away from her. "I shouldn't be first," he said as she began to run the water over his back.

Feeling her husband shivering as her fingertips ran over his skin as well Beckett said, "This is your congratulation prize."

"Prize?" Castle asked, turning to her with a smile on his face. "Is that what it was all those times we made love after the games I won?"

"If you want to see it that way, sure," Beckett said with a smile. She took his kiss and said, "Or I just wanted this."

" _I missed you during my shower_ ," Castle told her seriously.

" _I missed you during mine_ ," Beckett replied. She wrapped her arms around him as he was doing the same to her and she kissed him deeply before he could beat her to it. Their tongues immediately met but before they could really get into that she pulled away and whispered to her husband, " _Hold me_?"

"Yeah," Castle said and the water began to splash against the sides of the tub as he and Beckett turned before she was against his chest. His arms around her he murmured against the side of her head, " _Okay_?"

" _I am I just… wanted this_ ," Beckett replied with a smile. " _I'm surprised you're protesting_."

" _No I'm not_ ," Castle said. When she leaned her head back slightly to look at him he said, " _Seriously. I do enjoy making love to you but I've told you before that I love this too. Does it make me less macho? I'm sure others would say yes but screw them_." He then paused and said, " _Maybe I mean the hell with them_."

Beckett laughed softly and told him, " _I got what you meant_." She pressed back a little against him and then sighed saying, " _I keep forgetting the case_."

" _That's a great thing_ ," Castle told her with a slight laugh. " _Remember we said we'd try to do that when we're at home_."

" _With the girls_ ," Beckett said.

" _And just us_ ," Castle said. " _Although we don't really keep to it_."

Rubbing her hand over the back of her husband's Beckett said, " _I don't think it matters now, there's nothing we can do anyway_."

" _No so what're you really thinking about_?" Castle asked as he knew her comments were an attempt to distract her from something else.

" _Nothing just… tired_ ," Beckett said with a sigh.

"I think that means we need to go to bed definitely," Castle told her, switching back to English before they got up. He helped her dry off before they then redressed and after they had finished they headed back out to their bed where he waited for her to get onto it. But she didn't get on it and he waited for her to speak to see what she was thinking in that moment.

" _Ba mhaith liom dúinn a chodladh lom, an mhaidin_ ," Beckett told him seriously.

Swallowing hard at her request to sleep naked Castle said, " _Are you sure you want something for the morning_?"

" _Yes_ ," Beckett said very simply. When her husband's eyes went wide again she smiled and said, " _We'll be well rested_."

" _I agree_ ," Castle said before he reached for the bottom of his shirt but then paused.

" _Do you want me to get the door_?" Beckett asked, knowing why he'd done that.

" _No I've got it_ ," Castle said, going around the bed as quickly as he could.

" _How's your knee_?" Beckett asked, noticing he was slightly limping.

" _I'm fine_ ," Castle assured her.

"Rick," Beckett said simply.

Seeing the way she was looking at him after he'd locked the door Castle sighed and then went over to where his brace was.

" _You're not_ -" Beckett started to say when he set the brace on the bed and grabbed for the bottom of his shirt again.

" _I'll put it on_ ," Castle reassured her. They undressed themselves; as it was harder for them to become aroused if they did that and were quick. Once his leg was bared he then put on the brace, knowing that his wife was watching him to make sure that he did it. He slipped under the covers after her when they were ready and said, " _You sure you'll be okay with this_?"

" _We've done this before_ ," Beckett reminded him as she lay against his side.

Castle didn't really have anything to say to that; as she was right; so he just began rubbing her upper arm before he felt her moving slightly. "What?" he asked, looking down at her.

"If we have any time before we need to go in should we work on the book?" Beckett asked.

"You still want to finish the chapter before we leave?" Castle asked her.

"We're about half way through," Beckett pointed out to him. "And I don't want to come back from Tahiti with it waiting for us."

"If we have the time then sure," Castle replied. "How are we going to continue?"

Beckett thought for a moment and she said, "You still want us to have the chapter ending with the fire at the apartments?"

"I think that's the best way," Beckett replied with a nod.

"Then we should somehow get them over to that," Castle said.

"Since Sky is out of the hospital by that point you want to bring her into things?" Beckett asked him.

"Think it's been enough time?" Castle said instead of answering.

"I think so," Beckett said. "So we can go from there once she comes in and see how things work out."

"If there's enough time," Castle pointed out to her.

Rolling her eyes Beckett said, "Of course," before she realized something was on his mind with the way he was rubbing at her arm again. "What is it?"

" _An féidir liom póg tú_?" Castle asked.

Smiling Beckett cupped the back of his head when he immediately rolled her onto her back and allowed him to do what he'd asked for, taking his kiss eagerly. She wrapped her leg around him tightly before they were hungrily dueling against each other. She knew that slipped into multiple kisses and she felt her heart beating rapidly before he was suddenly tearing himself away from her, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. " _Too much_?" she asked.

" _Slightly_ ," Castle replied. " _You're tempting_."

" _Maybe we should put our clothes back on_ ," Beckett told him as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Oh _no we shouldn't_ ," Castle told her quickly, reaching over and taking her hand so she would then sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again though that time he was very careful before slowly pulling away from her. " _Better we do that_."

" _Probably_ ," Beckett said with a soft laugh. She cupped his cheek and then kissed him lovingly before she murmured, "I hate to say this."

"We'll have a chance… some time later," Castle said as he helped her on the bed.

"We can try tomorrow," Beckett said. "And I was thinking of the morning remember," she pointed out to him as she waited for him to lie down.

"We'll need to see of course," Castle replied though he was hopeful. He couldn't deny they were both exhausted and as he held her to him again he said, "We forgot to say goodnight."

Knowing what he meant Beckett pushed herself back up and then kissed him as deeply as she could before they slowly parted. "I love you," she said meaningfully.

"I love you too Kate," Castle said seriously, running his fingers through her hair tenderly. "I adore you."

"So do I," Beckett replied. They kissed once more before they finally parted and she lay down, getting settled against his side firmly before she murmured, "Good night."

"Night love," Castle said.

Closing her eyes Beckett pressed her cheek against his shoulder trying not to think about what had happened that day so she could get some rest. To her surprise, when she realized it the next day, she was falling asleep rapidly but it was understandable as by then it was a struggle to keep her eyes open.

"Love, do you mind how everyone seems to be-" Castle started to say before he looked down at her and realized she was sleeping. He winced as he waited to see if she was going to wake up but felt some relief when she didn't really move. He closed his eyes then and was falling asleep relatively quickly, knowing his own fatigue was a factor, and soon realizing he was dreaming of his wife and content to continue as it kept on raining outside their room through the night.


	18. Given Up The Game

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: I was so happy getting the feedback I ended up receiving for the last chapter so will go ahead and get to my thank yous for that right away! TORONTOSUN (Great that you like how Beckett is a really good mother for Eliza and Julia; I try to write her that way as much as possible as I think she could have been if we'd have seen more of her than the short glimpse we saw in season 1. And it was nice to read you thought the second half of the chapter was good writing for Castle and Becket too as I had fun writing that!),  
MsNYC (It was nice reading your reaction to the news that Jim is going to be there for the party. And I'm glad to see you liked my reference to Cher. I figured since Chaz was on DWTS Julia would know and that would help Beckett's explanation. So I'm happy that you thought it was cute she used him for that! I had to laugh a bit at your reaction to a Darnley flashback, though I thought you might enjoy it and I'm glad I was right about that! And I figured it would make parents a little unsettled about having the Family Life chat with their kids so I didn't want to make Beckett too different in that respect. But yeah, I figured it's better if the kids learn from their parents so I'm happy you agree with Beckett speaking to Julia about that before school. And of course, happy to see you thought it was great writing as usual!) and  
vetgirlmx (I was pleased of course to see first off you thought it was a very nice chapter. And I wasn't surprised to see you mentioned they'd had an easy afternoon I figured they deserved it after what they had to do on their Sunday. Yeah, I had to put in that moment with Alexis 'cause I thought the same thing you did about wondering about her mother's intentions with her father's family. It's definitely weird and I thought too it'd be hard on Alexis since of course that's her mother. Oh and I'm glad that you don't think Meredith doesn't deserve to be doubted too. I wasn't surprised to see you kind of panicked when Beckett thought Meredith was going to tell Julia that she's not her birth mother. It's great to know you think that's an awful thought… which is odd to say but it's the reaction I was aiming for. And not surprised either you're hoping that's not it though it's entirely possible as you said. Ah, yeah, I figured at this point everyone's going to start freaking out about Meredith so you're not alone as you mentioned. Not surprised you're relieved that you aren't. Really glad that you enjoyed the flashbacks a lot. And I'm not surprised at all that you were about the idea that Patrick and Beckett lived together for a short time. I'm also happy to see you think there could be some great stories from that, I expected some people to mention that, but I had to laugh at you mentioning their friendship survived that, lol, definitely a good thing as you said! I'm very pleased to see you enjoyed the chapter a lot and that you can't wait to read the next one which you don't need to do anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them as usual and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Abandoned Love_ by Bob Dylan, the version I've taken from is an unreleased demo sung by George Harrison.

Given Up The Game

Looking over at the door as it opened Beckett made her way to the bed and asked, "Is everyone still asleep?"

"It's early so yes, they are," Castle replied, handing her one of the two mugs that he held. "I checked on them really fast and they were both out."

"Good," Beckett said simply with a smile before they tapped their mugs together. She sipped at the tea and sighed saying, "It's stifling in here."

Since he knew that meant something else entirely Castle said, "It is, maybe you shouldn't drink that tea."

Trying not to give him a look at his obvious ignoring her hint Beckett then turned her attention to her drink, taking half of it before she decided it was enough. Setting the mug on her nightstand she was going to move when her husband walked up to her and held her by her waist. She had a second only to look at him before he was leaning down, taking her lips which set her off to respond to him.

By the time their tongues had met in her mouth Castle was holding her by the small of her back to bring her even closer to him. He reached up eventually, running his hand over the back of her head, before they needed to slowly part. "You were saying something about being hot?"

That time Beckett did give him a look but it was only for a few brief seconds before she smiled at him. Pleased when he looked startled she told him, "Lock the door."

Wondering how he'd forgotten that Castle then hurried to before going back to his wife and wrapping his arms around her. He held her tightly against him while they were kissing again and he shuddered as he knew that underneath her kimono there was nothing that would be in his way. He tried to keep their kiss going for a little longer until finally he stopped, pulling away carefully. Without a word, he took one step back and reached for the tie of her robe, tugging on it. When he saw how easily it fell open he tried not to laugh and said, "You were planning this."

"Nothing really in detail," Beckett said firmly. "But… I was hoping."

With a smile Castle said, "You didn't have to we agreed last night."

Breathing out heavily as while he'd been talking her husband's hands were running around under the robe Beckett said, "We were but I just wanted it to be easier for you."

"Thank you," Castle told her seriously before he then reached for the sides of the robe. With her help, they got it off her and he went over to the armchairs to set it aside, turning to find that his wife was right behind him. He tried to talk when she tugged at the bottom of his shirt and he was quick to assist her with it before it was off and tossed haphazardly on her robe before he grabbed her.

Their bare chests pressed against one another Beckett couldn't really speak but luckily she didn't have to as her husband was kissing her hungrily. She slid both her hands up to his hair, letting her nails lightly scratch at his scalp before they parted and in a rush almost they got rid of his pajama pants. "That's it?" she asked teasingly.

"Did you want me to wear more?" Castle retorted though he was smiling at her. They seemed to grow serious at the same time and were soon falling into another kiss, grasping at each other tightly. After a while he tried to get them back to the bed and was luckily able to find it though when they fell back to the mattress they were at the end of it.

"Here," Beckett said when she felt her husband starting to pull away. She got up more fully on the bed; since her back had fallen onto it first; and then began to lie down in the middle before he stopped her.

"Not yet," Castle told her seriously and with that he began to kiss her deeply. Their tongues were meeting almost instantly and after they had spent some time tangling them together he said, "What do you want to do?"

With a smile Beckett asked, "You mean in detail?"

"I think that was implied," Castle said simply. When she kissed him, he was ready though it didn't last for very long and after they'd stopped he went to her neck. The light moans he got from her in response to that went through him like a jolt but he didn't stop kissing at her neck. He eventually drifted up to her face and kissed at her lips, giving her a few quick ones before they delved into a deeper more sensuous one. When they'd parted he murmured her name against her lips and parting he said, "We don't have enough time for what I wanted to do for you."

"I'm ready," Beckett assured him. "And I know that you might have to be a little fast but don't forget we have the chance tonight."

For a moment Castle wanted to ask if she was sure but knew it wouldn't really matter as he already knew her answer. So he let her lay back on the bed before saying, "This-" before she cut him off by taking his hand and letting him cup her right breast. Taking the hint, he bowed his head and he proceeded to kiss at her mounds lovingly, feeling her moving against him as he was quick to pepper her skin before pulling away.

Beckett felt slightly impatient at his pause but looking at him she saw that he was controlling himself so she waited for him to move on to what he wanted to do next. When he finally did move he was going down to her lips and they kissed deeply before she caressed his face as he pulled back again. "I thought you didn't have time," she told him.

"Don't worry, I'm working up to something," Castle told her before he was kissing her. He kept that one far shorter before he moved down to her neck and drifted around it and then went further down. At her breasts, he started to kiss around them yet again before he took her right nipple with his mouth. He groaned, as she cried out in pleasure, at how taut the nub was but he didn't stop. Suckling at her he reached up to fondle her other breast lovingly, making sure he focused particularly on her nipple there. Feeling its hardness, he soon after switched to take it with his mouth but halfway to it he paused and went back to her breast, blowing on her skin that was damp from his mouth and watching her to see her reaction.

Her breath coming out faster Beckett reached up and cupped his cheek before she whispered, "Hurry love."

With a nod Castle continued to her left breast and gently sucked at the nipple for some time, feeling her hands stroking repeatedly at his head. When he finally stopped and forced himself to pull away he murmured, "What do you want?"

Beckett didn't respond to that verbally at first, instead she moved so she was grabbing a pillow before he tucked it under her hips. As soon as she felt it was ready she reached out for her husband and pulled him to her whispering, "Fuck me."

Though his body was shuddering in joy at those words Castle turned his attention to fulfilling his wife's desire, starting with finally entering her. Once they were coupled and feeling the warmth of his wife's skin against his hips he leaned down to kiss her before he began to move, groaning in joy at the sensation of their hips slapping roughly. Another few thrusts and the friction was building steadily, nearly making his eyes roll into the back of his head. He tried his best to look down at his wife, wanting to see her reaction to what he knew she was also feeling.

Her head rolling back and forth Beckett was biting down on her lower lip hard as the sensations were heavy already. She was holding onto him and her grip became even tighter on his neck before something in her told her told reach for his skin. Digging her nails into it she let out a short scream when he jerked hard against her in response to that and she laughed for a few seconds. She knew Castle was likely wondering what that was for and she told him, "I never do that."

"Not before me," Castle grunted. He suddenly realized that his comment was incredibly self-serving but he didn't want to take that back because it was also true. And he found out that his wife didn't disagree when she grabbed the sides of his head and drew him down to her so they could kiss hard. She fought against him as hard as she could until finally he was very slowly pulling away from her.

"I… you're too much," Beckett breathed, not knowing what caused her to say that but knowing it was true.

"I'm…" Castle started to say. "You're the same," he finally could say huskily. He brushed his lips against hers again before carefully pulling back enough to look down at her. "I think… we should stop…" he breathed out to her.

Though she wanted to protest it Beckett couldn't find the words for that before her husband was slowing down. She sighed heavily in her frustration and told him, "How often are you going to do that?"

"Not a lot," Castle said seriously. "I can't."

"No?" Beckett asked, a little surprised at that claim.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Castle replied. He then saw the slight smile on her face and said, "You're going to pay for that."

"I'd like to see you make me," Beckett replied, delighted at the idea of them taunting each other. When she saw the look on his face in response to her words she then moved and flipped him around onto his back before he was suddenly moving her onto hers. They inevitably parted when they continued to move around the bed and finally she stopped him, breathing hard and feeling like her entire body was aching heavily. "We… we don't have that kind of time," she told him seriously.

"No," Castle said before they began to kiss passionately. When they slowly parted he murmured, "The time."

"I know," Beckett said as she'd seen the clock on her nightstand as well. " _Go tapa leannán_ ," she told him seriously.

Shuddering in pleasure at her calling him lover in Irish, Castle began to thrust quickly as she had told him to do. They kissed hungrily for some time before he followed her when she lay down and together they helped him enter her again. As soon as he was set he then proceeded to thrust, doing so hard immediately and he breathed out an apology in Irish to her.

Shaking her head Beckett stroked at the back of his head tenderly and murmured he needed to move faster. That quickly turned it into a quickie and she let a heavy cry of joy leave her lips at the sensation of warmth and substantial friction that was making it even heavier. She was startled when her husband then slowed down and she dug her fingers a little harder into his back before he turned his head and kissed her tenderly. "I wanted-" she started to say.

"I know but… just a little more my love," Castle said huskily before he leaned down to her neck. When he proceeded to gently tongue at her collarbone he heard her crying out in joy and he knew he had her permission to continue. He did so but only for a little before he pulled back and allowed himself to thrust faster and harder against her. She was incredibly tight around him and taking him hungrily into her so he was almost dizzy with the absolute bliss she provided him. He knew he wasn't going to be able to slow down but tried to do so a little bit before finally he stopped completely.

"Oh god… Rick please," Beckett breathed out heavily.

"Just let me try this," Castle said.

Though she had no idea what exactly he wanted to do Beckett didn't try to start moving again and breathed out heavily in her frustration. When he kissed her, she could feel his apology so she asked him, "What exactly are you going to try?"

"To draw this out," Castle said. When his wife gave him a brief look he quickly told her, "Nothing special but I didn't think I could do this not too long ago."

"Don't make a habit of it right now," Beckett said. She cried out when suddenly her husband turned them around and she was on her knees as he held her by the small of her back. "You're really serious," she told him.

"Yes," Castle replied before he kissed her. He was relieved when she kissed him back passionately and groaned in joy as he felt her beginning to caress his shoulders and the back of his head. Their heads were tilting back and forth as they were passionately dueling each other until they needed to breathe. He didn't let her say anything before he was crushing his lips to hers once more, at the same time reaching for her breasts.

Breaking away with a gasp Beckett looked down while her husband caressed her breasts so she could see it and she whispered his name before she began to move. She wasn't surprised when he moved to lay her down and she felt a heavy sense of relief as he proceeded to thrust within her again. As before he was going deep and hard into her and she closed her eyes tightly in her joy. She didn't try to hold back and instead just moved as fast as she could before she realized she was at the edge. He groaned to her to come and her body easily complied, making her writhe hard as she cried out in joy. She chanted his name, holding onto him tight before he abruptly joined her. Crying out for a moment she went back to his name as he was repeating her name. When she finally stopped moving he still was but she held onto him tightly, stroking at the back of his neck.

With a hard few last thrusts Castle for some reason thought that he should apologize but he stopped himself from doing that as he knew he had no real reason to with her being obviously satiated. Instead he kissed her and had planned on letting that last for a while but the alarm on her phone interrupted those plans. Breathing out hard in annoyance he said, "Tell me we have time for a shower at least."

"Definitely," Beckett said easily before she waited for him to move away from her. She took his hand and then pulled him to the bathroom where they disappeared into the shower.

"Shouldn't you have-" Castle started to say before she kissed him and then turned on the water. He would have spoken again when they parted but decided it didn't really matter. They stood under the water for a bit before he proceeded to help her wash her body and he said, "That was nice I'm glad we decided to do that."

"You're talking like you're speaking about a party or something," Beckett told him with a soft laugh as he was washing over her lower legs.

"Not sure what else I could say. That was amazing and I want to fuck you again?" Castle asked as he stood up.

"Better," Beckett said, smiling when he looked at her in surprise. "After all I owe you, don't I?"

Trying not to shudder too hard Castle leaned down and brushed his lips to hers before she began to wash him. After he was rinsed off he followed her out though he managed to get her towel out of her hands.

"Rick-" Beckett started to say.

"Don't worry," Castle was quick to assure her before he began to dry her. "I can't forget it's Monday and there's school." He was down at her legs before he spoke again saying, "And the case."

"And the case," Beckett breathed out. She shook her head and said, "Later."

"Okay," Castle replied. He then leaned over once he was standing straight and kissed her gently saying, "Are you still sure about working on the book?"

"I am," Beckett replied, taking the towel from him as he was drying himself off. She had wrapped her towel around her and when he tried to get his towel back she just gave him a look.

"I guess it's fair," Castle replied. He then smiled and said, "What should we do for breakfast."

Not surprised her husband was saying that for a chance to further calm down Beckett said, "I leave that up to you."

With a nod Castle walked with her over to the closet where they dressed together and in the bathroom, he finished getting ready before she did. He then leaned against the counter, watching her closely as she finished by putting her hair up into a ponytail. "Ready?" he asked when she turned to him.

Reaching her hand out to him Beckett smiled and said, "You're coming with me to wake them up."

"I think that was a given," Castle replied with a quick nod of his head. He followed her out to the hall and down to Julia's room first where he let her go.

Feeling someone shaking her Julia slowly opened her eyes and when she saw her mother she smiled saying, "Morning Mommy."

"Morning sweetie," Beckett said before she leaned down and gently kissed the girl's forehead. "Think you can get up?"

Sighing Julia sat up and rubbed her eyes before she looked at her father, smiling quickly at the sight of him. "Morning Daddy," she told him eagerly.

"Morning sweetheart, how'd you sleep?" Castle asked.

"Good… are you gonna wake up Lizzy now?" Julia said.

"We need to," Beckett said before she stood. "Come to her room so I can do your hair."

"I will, what's for breakfast Daddy?" Julia asked as she went to get off the bed.

"I don't know yet so I think it'll be a surprise for us all," Castle said. "Kate?"

"We're going," Beckett said. "It might take him a while to make it," she said in a heavy whisper to Julia who immediately giggled. "Let me know if you need my help sweetie."

"I will," Julia told them. She watched her parents leave, her mother closing the door behind her, and then went to get her uniform for the day before she remembered something.

Inside Eliza's room Beckett was kissing the top of the little girl's head as she was blinking her eyes. "Hi," she said with a smile as Eliza seemed to be startled to see her.

"Hi Mommy, is it morning?" the little girl asked before she pushed herself up.

"It is," Beckett said. "Say good morning to your daddy he needs to make us breakfast."

"Hi Daddy," Eliza said eagerly to him and with a wide smile on her face. She hugged him when he came to her and shared a kiss with him before he murmured he'd make something special for them. "What's he gonna make?" she asked her mother eagerly after he'd left them.

"I have no idea," Beckett said.

"I'm sure your father will make something warm for today," Martha said, at the doorway.

"Gram," Eliza said eagerly. "Mommy-" she started to say.

"Can you?" Beckett asked her mother in law.

"Go we'll be joining you downstairs shortly," Martha replied.

"I'll be with Julia," Beckett corrected her. When Castle's mother merely nodded to that she smiled and left the room once she had pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.

Hearing a knock on the door then Julia hurried to it and opened it enough to see it was her mother. "Mommy?" she asked in surprise.

"Hey sweetie, your gram is helping your sister get ready," Beckett told her with a smile. "Want me to join you?"

"Okay but I have almost everything on," Julia said, letting her inside.

"That's alright I can do your hair here now," Beckett said before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah," Julia said with a nod before she then pulled on her sweater. "What are you gonna do now?"

"What do you mean?" Beckett said, knowing that now didn't really apply to that specific moment.

"After we go to school?" Julia clarified.

"We might be working on our book again," Beckett replied. "It depends on the case."

"Oh… I thought you were gonna go riding," Julia said. "Or go see Lottie."

"We might do that later today," Beckett said. "I will call the clinic at nine when they open to check on her."

"Oh! Mommy could you text me at recess?" Julia asked hopefully since her recess was at nine-twenty.

"I could but you'll make sure you're to the side of the playground, right?" Beckett asked her.

"Yeah," Julia said as she didn't want her phone to be taken away.

"Get your brush," Beckett said with a smile as she knew her daughter was finished getting dressed.

With a nod Julia hurried over to the bathroom where she grabbed her bush and taking it back to her mother she asked, "Will you braid two pigtails?"

"Of course," Beckett replied, reaching for the brush. When her daughter was sitting in front of her she said, "I don't know if we can make it to your dance class today."

"That's okay," Julia replied. "I thought that was gonna happen. I'll tell you what we dance though."

"Good," Beckett replied. "Make sure that your sister gets to dance a little bit."

"I will and Ms. Grey will let her too," Julia replied as her mother was braiding the first pigtail. She was quiet as her mother moved on to the second one and when that was done she got up to take back the brush. "It smells nice."

"It does, let's go see what your daddy got up to," Beckett told her as she reached out to take her hand before they made their way to the stairs. When they were walking to the kitchen she smiled when she saw her husband working at the stove, waiting until they were at the threshold of the kitchen to speak though he turned to them and did so first.

"Good I was wondering who was going to get down here first," Castle said as he turned to find them near him. "So you chose the jumper today."

"It's the sweater Daddy," Julia said, frowning slightly.

"She's right," Beckett said, studying her husband. "I think it might be time for you to get your eyes checked. Actually, I think it's time for us all to get a checkup."

"Now?" Julia asked.

"No, we can go next month or January," Beckett replied.

"I was kidding you know," Castle said.

"I realized that but I'm serious," Beckett said in response before she heard someone walking from the stairs.

"Good morning," Martha said once she set Eliza on the ground. "How are you Richard, Julia?"

"Good, Daddy's making _crêpes_ ," Julia said, having looked at the pan on the stove.

"Two kinds," Castle said. When his wife looked at him he smiled and said, "Savory and sweet."

"Okay I hope you're almost done," Beckett said, going to the juicer since Martha was helping the girls with setting the table with utensils and glasses.

"We're not running late," Castle said, smiling then at her. He flipped a _crêpe_ before he then slid it out and filled it with the eggs and cheese he'd made. That was the last of the savory ones he needed to finish so he dished it out.

"Where are the sweet ones?" Eliza asked.

"There," Castle said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist as she'd begun reaching for a raspberry on top of them.

"Come on and sit at the table sweetie," Beckett said, going over and leading her to the table.

With the orange juice on the table the family sat around it and began to eat before Beckett spoke saying, "I think your daddy did a good job making this special," to the girls.

"Yeah, thanks Daddy," Julia said first to him.

"Don't speak yet," Castle told Eliza quickly as she was still chewing.

"Thank you, Daddy," the little girl said after she had swallowed. "It's good."

"Very good," Martha said.

"What?" Beckett asked as her mother in law was smiling slightly.

"It's nothing, just studying the girls' enthusiasm," Castle's mother replied.

Wondering what his mother was thinking as he'd noticed the expression on her face as well Castle looked at Eliza as she began to talk to Julia about what they could play during recess. "Since it's not raining you should be able to play outside right?" he asked when they paused in speaking.

"I think so," Julia replied. "Unless it's too wet."

"Hopefully it'll dry out," Beckett said. She took the first bite of the raspberry _crêpe_ she'd gotten and was startled when her husband suddenly jumped up. "What is it?" she asked as they all watched him rush to the fridge.

"I forgot this," Castle said as he pulled whipped cream out. He went around the table and gave everyone some, pretending to give more to the girls as they giggled.

Beckett was about to speak when her husband was kissing her on the lips after sitting at his seat. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "But I was going to say they should have enough energy in class."

"There's not that much sugar," Castle said exaggeratedly.

"It's good Mommy," Julia protested.

"I'm still eating my _crêpe_ ," Beckett assured them. "And eat yours or else we will be late."

The girls nodded and began to eat again before they looked at their mother as she stood up.

"You finished fast Mommy," Eliza said in surprise as their mother always told them not to eat fast.

"No, I just wasn't talking," Beckett said with a smile. "Keep eating you two."

Finishing next Martha took her plate and glass over to her daughter in law and she commented, "Did my son have a nightmare last night?"

"No," Beckett replied as she realized hers and Castle's early morning was showing. "I woke up a little early."

"So did I," Castle commented, going over to them then. "But we're fine," he added, taking over for his wife in cleaning the dishes. "You can help them out love."

Glancing at him Beckett saw Martha was picking up a dish towel so she gave up, helping the girls in clearing the table fully. "Let's get your things on so we can go as soon as they're done," she told the two.

"Can the doggies go too?" Eliza asked as she and her sister were holding their mother's hands.

"Not today," Beckett said. "Maybe when your daddy and I aren't going to work on a case." She helped them with their coats and then scarves before she let them put on their gloves. Pulling on her coat she saw that Julia was holding her Ravenclaw scarf out to her and she said, "I can't really wear that sweetie."

"But blue and red go together," Julia protested as her mother was wearing her red coat.

"I know but I have this scarf," Beckett said, showing her daughter the grey one she had ready to put on.

Sighing; though she knew her mother wasn't going to budge on her decision; Julia said, "Won't you try?"

"Not today sweetie, sorry," Beckett told her lovingly. She leaned over; as she was sitting on the bench; and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "But you can wear yours."

Shaking her head Julia said, "I still wanna keep it here."

"Good idea," Castle said, walking over with his mother. "You don't want to lose it."

"You're not coming Martha?" Beckett asked as she saw her mother in law wasn't getting her coat.

"Not today," Castle's mother said, looking at the girls. "I'm going to run a few errands; last minute things before I go back to the city. I will walk with you tomorrow."

"Kay," Eliza said, walking over to her, hugging her tightly. "Will you pick me up?"

"That's why I'm going now," Martha said with a smile. "So, I'll see you when your class is over. Have a wonderful day kiddo."

"Thanks," Eliza said before she got out of the way of her sister.

Hugging Martha as soon as she reached her Julia said, "I'll see you later Gram, I hope you have a good day."

"You too Julia," Martha told her, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

"We'll be back Mother," Castle said after he'd put on his coat. "But how long we'll be here… I don't know."

"I'll be gone," Martha replied.

"Where are you going that will be open so early?" Beckett asked while the girls were putting on their backpacks.

"To a friend's," Martha answered. "They're leaving on Saturday for Thanksgiving vacation so I'll be saying goodbye to them now."

"Oh, then we'll see you after we're finished for the day," Castle said.

After calling goodbye to Martha with the girls Beckett took Julia's hand as Castle got Eliza and they left, walking out the door next to the gate. "There's Mari," she said when they could see the girl on the sidewalk.

"Your parents?" Castle asked the little girl.

"Inside they said it's too cold for Dani so they're gonna stay with her," Mari said.

"I thought David would want to come with us," Castle commented to his wife as the girls were walking ahead of them. "To find out about the case."

"Brad?" Beckett reminded him.

"Okay," Castle replied before he smiled at his wife's laughter. They were soon reaching the school so he went with her closer to the three when they'd crossed the street and inside the elementary school building where they stopped in front of Eliza's classroom.

"Can you come in with me Mommy?" the little girl asked her.

"Sure, say goodbye to everyone else," Beckett replied.

Going to Mari, Eliza hugged her before she said, "Will you play with us?"

"Yep," Mari replied. "I'll see you then."

"I'll get you when we go outside," Julia told her sister after she hugged her. "If we go outside."

"Kay," Eliza said before going to her father. She giggled softly when he picked her up before she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly to embrace him and said, "Bye Daddy, be safe."

"I will," Castle said with a smile before he shared a kiss with her. "Have fun today; your mom and I will want to hear all about it."

I will say," Eliza assured him with another smile. When she was down she let her mother take her hand and they walked inside the classroom.

"Your daddy already beat me to it but have fun and pay attention," Beckett said, hanging up her daughter's coat before draping the scarf around the hanger it was on. She smiled when she saw Eliza was nodding and she knelt before hugging her tightly. "We'll see you as soon as we can come home," she told her.

"Good, I'll miss you 'till then Mommy," Eliza said seriously.

Sharing a kiss with her Beckett stood up and watched her daughter walk away to join some friends at a table. She made sure that Eliza's backpack was set in her cubbyhole before taking a breath and stepping out of the room.

"What is it?" Castle asked her as soon as he saw her. At her questioning glance he said, "You took a while."

"I was watching her," Beckett said, glancing at her watch. "We better go."

"Good thing Julia took Mari upstairs," Castle replied as they went to the stairs. He wanted to take her hand while they were going up but decided not to before they reached the second floor.

Waiting for her parents to reach her Julia said, "I know you'll try to come but I will tell you what we dance to."

"More than likely you'll be practicing," Beckett said as the girl then hugged Castle.

"I hope so," Julia replied with a smile. "Be careful Daddy."

"I will," Castle said. "Did Eliza say that to you?" he then asked his wife.

"I think it was implied," Beckett said with a slightly amused smile.

"Okay, then we will," Castle said, squeezing her shoulder gently before she turned to Beckett.

"Have fun today; I promise I'll text you about Lottie," Beckett replied.

"Thanks," Julia said, hugging her mother as tightly as she could. "See you later."

Watching her leave Beckett said to her husband, "We better get back."

"Yeah," Castle said. He waited until they were out of the grounds of the school; just as the bell was ringing; to take her hand and he said, "Another week."

"I think it goes slower for them," Beckett said in amusement. "Luckily they don't remind me of how long until Friday like you have."

"They still think about it," Castle replied.

"Since you taught them to once Julia started going to school here," Beckett replied in mock exasperation.

Castle merely squeezed her hand; their fingers entwined together by then; looking around at the leaves that were falling in the window as they walked. He then said, "Remember Eliza's first autumn?"

"You mean her first leaf pile you and Julia showed her," Beckett replied. When he nodded she couldn't help smiling and she said, "I do, I'm glad you suggested I take pictures."

"Definitely," Castle said as he and Beckett both thought about that day in October after their youngest had been born.

* * *

 _"Daddy can I do that?" Julia asked._

 _"Hey sweetheart," Castle said, looking up from raking the leaves in the backyard. "Does your mom know you're out here?"_

 _"Yeah," Julia said, watching him move the rake._

 _"I don't know," Castle then said in reference to her question. "This is a little tall for you so maybe you should leave it to me." When he looked at the little girl he saw that she had her hands on her hips and he couldn't help laughing saying, "You remind me of your mom doing that. Okay I think I can let you try but don't be too disappointed if it's just too tall for you."_

 _"I won't," Julia said excitedly. She tried to hold the rake as her father had been doing but was startled to realize that the handle_ was _tall. She didn't say anything and just tried to rake as her father had been doing, smiling as he helped her out. Finally, she had to admit that he was right and she handed it back to him saying, "Thanks Daddy."_

 _"You're welcome, how's Eliza?" Castle asked as he went back to raking._

 _"Good, Mommy gave her lunch and she's taking a nap," Julia replied. "I told Mommy to come out but she said she had to watch Lizzy."_

 _"She does," Castle replied, starting on a new pile of leaves. "But I'm sure once your sister is up she'll come outside."_

 _"I told Lizzy all about the leaves and she was smiling," Julia told her father. "She wants to come outside too."_

 _"I'm sure she does," Castle said, knowing she was trying to goad him into getting her little sister outside sooner. "But your mom would be livid if I woke up Eliza from her nap."_

 _"What does that mean?" Julia asked, slightly confused._

 _"Livid?" Castle replied. When she nodded he said, "Very, very angry."_

 _Sighing Julia sat down on the ground next to one of the piles, taking out a leaf and turning it in her hand to see the colors it was. "Why Daddy?" she asked suddenly._

 _"Why what?" Castle asked, smiling when she was obviously startled at his being a bit further away from her._

 _"Why do they change?" Julia asked._

 _"They don't last through winter," Castle replied. "So they have to get ready for the sun not shining a lot then. They'll lose the green and they show the colors that are with the green."_

 _"It's there all the time?" Julia said in surprise._

 _"It is, so that's why they change color like they do," Castle replied._

 _"But how do they know to do that?" Julia then asked._

 _"Because there's less sun when we get closer to fall," Castle said. "And that tells them they need to get working. And me too since I'm raking."_

 _"Too bad they don't stay on there," Julia said with a sigh, following her father to the last patch of leaves on the grass._

 _"They'll grow new ones and it lets them get a rest too," Castle told her. He worked on the last pile quickly and when he'd finished he straightened his back, looking around with Julia at the piles._

 _"It looks pretty," the little girl told her father, looking up at him._

 _"Well at least your mom will stop telling me to rake the backyard," Castle commented, scratching her back playfully to make her giggle._

 _"How come you took so long?" Julia asked him though she was teasing as her mother had only told her father to do that three times before he'd gone out._

 _"Because I love to bother your mom like that," Castle replied in an exaggerated whisper, making her laugh. "Just for a little though," he told her quickly. "If I did that for longer I'd be in_ a lot _of trouble."_

 _"He's right," a voice said behind them. Beckett smiled at the two as they turned to her and she said, "Luckily you know when to behave Rick."_

 _"I try my best," Castle said as he took Julia's hand so they walked over to her. "I'd take Eliza but my hands are dirty," he said before he leaned over and kissed the baby's cheek. Smiling when she patted his cheek he said, "Nice nap?"_

 _"It was," Beckett replied. "Do you need some help with the leaves?"_

 _"I could use it," Castle replied seriously. "But Eliza?"_

 _"I can babysit!" Julia said eagerly. "I know how."_

 _"Okay," Beckett said before she went down the steps to the grass with them. "But keep her close to the stairs."_

 _"Can I carry her and walk around?" Julia begged, holding up her arms to take her sister._

 _"I think she could," Castle commented with a smile at his wife._

 _"Alright," Beckett said, handing Eliza to Julia. She waited to make sure that the little girl was okay holding the baby and once she was she started to walk after her husband._

 _Sensing that he was walking alone after a while Castle turned around and saw that Beckett was watching their daughters. He smiled and said, "Get your camera." When she looked at him he said, "I can tell."_

 _Beckett couldn't help it and she kissed his cheek before hurrying over to the house to grab her camera in the family room. When she stepped out she didn't go down to the grass, instead she took a picture there of Julia showing Eliza a leaf that was orange and yellow. "Julia," she called then, getting her attention. "Sit with your sister in front of one of the piles."_

 _"Really?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"Really," Beckett echoed as her husband walked over to her. She watched with him as their oldest set Eliza down in front of the pile and helped her sit up. Once Julia was on her knees she then took a shot before Castle walked over to them. At first, she thought he was going to pick up Eliza when he started to sprinkle some leaves down on them. She raced to take pictures of Eliza's surprise at the leaves before the baby was laughing, which in turn made her smile behind the camera. She then had to say, "Watch she doesn't eat those!" as the baby was bringing a leaf up to her mouth._

 _"Oh, that's not good Eliza," Castle told the baby, taking away the leaf and tossing it aside. To keep her from starting to whimper he kissed her cheeks, blowing gently on the left one, making her laugh loudly._

 _Beckett was taking pictures that entire time, glad that she'd had the idea for the two to sit there. Her husband joining them was an extra bonus and she reminded herself to make sure that she showed him the pictures later. "Okay," she finally said. "Are you ready to watch your sister for us?"_

 _"Yep," Julia said though she was making a leaf 'tower' for her sister as she watched her with wide eyes._

 _"You don't have to help me," Castle said as he watched her watching their daughters._

 _"No, I'll help," Beckett said, turning to him. She was slightly startled when she nearly ran into him but then smiled saying, "Something else I can help you with?"_

 _"Yes," Castle told her before he then kissed her. It was deep and he cursed the fact that he couldn't hold onto her; her sweater a cream color and his hands still dirty; as he wanted her close. But luckily she could hold him and she did so tightly around his neck before they slowly parted. "_ Nuair a nigh mê mo lámha _…" he told her in Irish carefully as they were still new to the language._

 _With a smile Beckett said, "I'll need to wash my hands too," as she'd been able to understand the mock warning about when he would wash his hands. She then let him go and said, "But they're with us… waiting."_

 _Leaning over slightly to be able to see around her Castle smiled at the girls and said, "I know, later."_

 _"Yes," Beckett replied. She brushed her lips against his before they began to make their way around the yard picking up the leaves. They left the one their daughters were next to and when they reached them she said, "Are you guys having fun?"_

 _"Yeah, do you gotta pick up these leaves now?" Julia asked._

 _"We do, probably better we do since it looks like she's a little too eager to sample the leaves," Castle commented, looking at Eliza._

 _"Can you pick her up sweetie?" Beckett asked._

 _"Yep," Julia said easily, picking up her sister. She stood out of the way of their parents, watching as they picked up the leaves quickly. When Eliza babbled for a moment she bounced her sister on her hip, giggling when the baby gave a short cry. She waited for their parents to take the trash bin away and then carried her sister into the house with them before she said, "Now what?"_

 _"Wait for us in the family room," Beckett told her. "We just need to wash our hands okay?"_

 _"Okay," Julia said, carrying Eliza into the room. "Want to practice walking?" she asked her little sister eagerly. She wasn't surprised when then baby merely babbled a bit so she set Eliza down but helped her stand up. "Move your legs," she told her sister. But when the baby just gave a kind of squeal she sighed and then let her sit down before she joined her._

 _"One day you're gonna get to walk," Julia told her seriously. "I did the same thing too." When her little sister just waved her arms in the air she couldn't help giggling and then went to get their building blocks to play with together._

 _"Wait… Rick," Beckett told him as he nuzzled at the side of her neck with his lips. As he'd told her once he had washed his hands he'd almost attacked her though she didn't really stop him after that. When he had stopped she smiled and said, "We can't leave them alone for that long."_

 _Though he wanted to make a comment about that Castle conceded and let her go, following her over to the family room. He smiled when he saw that Julia was making another tower; that time with the blocks; and he said, "Looks like you have a great helper."_

 _"No, she keeps- Lizzy!" Julia cried out when her sister knocked down her short tower._

 _"I don't know if she's the best person to have helping you," Beckett said with a smile. She sat down next to Julia after putting Eliza on her lap and kissed the side of her head before she said, "I'll keep her occupied for you."_

 _"If you don't mind I'll be your helper," Castle told her with a smile as he sat on the other side of the little girl._

 _"Thanks," Julia said, handing him a block. They built a tower together until she put one of the pyramid shapes on the very top and said, "There," proudly. She then turned to her mother and told Eliza, "Now you can knock it down."_

 _"I don't think that's such a good idea," Castle said laughingly. "It's a little too tall to do it safely. We'll take it down together okay?"_

 _Julia nodded and helped her father getting the shapes into the box they belonged in before she said, "What can we play now?"_

 _"Let's go ahead and do something you want to do," Castle told her._

 _"You were doing the blocks with Eliza," Beckett said when Julia looked to her._

 _"Okay," the little girl said slowly. She went to the cabinet where the games were but then went to the cabinet next to it._

 _"A puzzle?" Beckett asked, slightly surprised by that._

 _"Yeah, we haven't gotten to do one in a long time," Julia said to both her parents._

 _"I'll let you take care of this," Castle said, taking Eliza from his wife. "I didn't get to spend too much time with her before this."_

 _Beckett relinquished their youngest to him before she hurried to get the felt they used for the puzzle for Julia. "I should have known it was this one," she said with a smile when she saw the box of the puzzle._

 _"We didn't get to do it yet and we had it_ forever _," Julia said, playfully exaggerating the word._

 _"She's right, you have had that one for a while," Castle said, since his wife had bought it during their honeymoon._

 _"We," Beckett told him, looking at him. "And we've been a little busy since we got home from Ireland."_

 _"We look for the corners first right?" Julia asked her mother as Beckett had opened the box and they were looking at the pieces._

 _"Exactly," she told her oldest. Beckett looked at the cover over the box and said, "One day we'll take you there."_

 _"Lizzy too?" Julia asked, looking at the picture of the Cliffs of Moher that the puzzle was herself._

 _"When she said you she meant everyone," Castle commented, having been watching the two as he allowed Eliza to play with her stuffed horse he'd given her._

 _"'lexis and Gram and Grandpapa too?" Julia said._

 _"That's everyone," Beckett said with a smile before she leaned over and kissed the side of her head._

 _Though she had a corner piece in her hand Julia let it drop before she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "Thanks Mommy," she told her._

 _"You're welcome but thank your daddy too since he's wanted to take us all for a long time," Beckett said. "Longer than me."_

 _Castle gave his wife a quick smile and said, "That's just because I knew I was going to take her to Ireland."_

 _"Is Lizzy still gonna be a baby when we go?" Julia asked after she'd hugged her father tightly._

 _"We'll wait for her to grow up a little more," Beckett said first._

 _"We want you both to be older so you can remember what we show you," Castle finished._

 _"A year old?" Julia asked._

 _"A little more than that," Castle said laughingly._

 _"Two?" Julia then said._

 _"We're not sure yet," Beckett said, laughing outright._

 _"But we'll let you know a long time before we go," Castle assured her._

 _Nodding Julia said suddenly with a gasp, "Oh, I found a corner."_

 _"That means how many more left to go?" Beckett asked as she set down the piece on the felt so she could study the picture to find out which corner it was._

 _"Three," Julia said, pointing to three of the corners._

 _"Do you want me to help you or do you want to keep looking on your own?" Beckett asked her._

 _"I'll look," Julia told her seriously before she began to sift through the pieces quickly._

 _Looking to her right Beckett said to her husband, "You got bored?"_

 _"No, just lonely over there," Castle said, not surprised when his wife rolled her eyes as he'd only been a foot or two away from her on the floor._

 _"Is she bored?" Beckett asked, looking down at their youngest._

 _"No," Castle said, watching the baby with her._

 _"Mommy?" Julia asked._

 _"You found another?" Beckett said, turning to her with a smile._

 _"Yep," Julia said, handing it over. It took her a little more time but she found the third and fourth before she said, "Now what?"_

 _"Look at the rectangular shape of the picture and then the pieces that are there," Beckett told her._

 _Castle glanced at his wife, smiling with her as their oldest looked very serious as she studied what was in front of her. "If-" he started to say._

 _"The ones with edges?" Julia asked a little hesitatingly._

 _"Perfect, I'll help you with that because there are a lot more than just four here," Beckett said before they began to search for the pieces._

 _"I don't have to go to school until Monday, right?" Julia asked after they'd been silent for a while in their search._

 _"No," Castle said. "That's why Friday's the best day. Especially at the end of school."_

 _"Saturday is the best day," Julia said, looking up at him. "'Cause there's no school at all."_

 _Castle pretended to think that over, making Julia and then Eliza giggle, he was going to continue when the baby grabbed at his chin. "Thank you, Eliza," he said, kissing her tiny hand after he'd pulled it off him. "But you're right; I just loved the end of school on Fridays. Especially on three day weekends or the holidays."_

 _"When do I have one?" Julia asked her mother._

 _"Thanksgiving next month," Beckett told her, setting down another piece with an edge. "And yes, we'll go into the city for that."_

 _"We get to see everyone Lizzy," Julia told her little sister. "And stay at the city home."_

 _"I think she approves," Castle said, looking down at the baby who was bouncing on his lap._

 _"But for now… Beckett told them with a smile. "Let's get as much done of this as we can."_

 _Castle couldn't help himself and he leaned over, kissing his wife on the cheek. He was slightly startled when she turned her head to him but was able to recover rapidly in time to kiss her on the lips before they slowly parted a short time later._

 _"Thank you," Beckett said, smiling at him when he pulled away from her. She looked over at Julia and said, "Did you find anything yet?"_

 _"No, this is super hard Mommy," the little girl complained._

 _"I know but that's why puzzles are really good for you to do," Beckett said, going back to searching through the pieces with her._

 _"Why?" Julia asked._

 _Beckett smiled and said, "Because they make you think."_

 _"She's right," Castle commented. "And if they're like the one you're doing now they really make you think."_

 _Watching her husband then Beckett commented, "Having some trouble?"_

 _"No," Castle said though it was spoken absently while Eliza was grabbing at his nose._

 _"Here," Beckett told him, reaching to stop their youngest. "Sweetie you're not supposed to do that."_

 _Looking up as her little sister was babbling Julia said with a smile, "Does she understand you?"_

 _"Probably not," Castle answered. "But as she gets older she will."_

 _"Mommy," Julia said then, slowly._

 _"Have you had enough?" Beckett asked with a smile. When the little girl nodded she said, "Then we'll leave it for another day."_

 _"What can I do now?" Julia said while she watched her mother roll up the felt on the pieces that they did have._

 _"That's up to you too sweetie," Beckett replied before she watched with Castle as their daughter went to look at the games and art supplies they had there. But when Julia turned around to them she asked, "What's on your mind?"_

 _"Could I have some leaves?" the little girl asked slightly shyly._

 _"For what?" Castle said as he handed Eliza over to his wife._

 _"To make art," Julia said, still shy._

 _"I think she wants to make some rubbings," Castle said as he stood up._

 _"Yeah! With different colors," Julia said eagerly since she knew her parents were okay with the idea._

 _"Are you taking her?" Beckett asked Castle with a smile._

 _"You can come with," he replied, turning back to her._

 _Beckett was still smiling as she stood up and she walked with him and Julia outside to the trees where she watched as Castle carefully shook a branch to get the leaves ready to fall for Julia to pick up. "I think that's enough," she said before her husband could go to another branch._

 _"Kay, thanks," Julia said, smiling at them. She followed her parents back inside, a little slow as she was staring at the leaves that she was holding in her arms. "Do I have to wash these?"_

 _"No, you'll have to just put it on top of another piece of paper," Castle answered._

 _"Are you going to help her?" Beckett asked him._

 _"Yep," Castle said as he went to get the big pad of paper they had for their oldest's art. "See here's the bottom one you just need to put your leaf on top of here and then set the next paper above it."_

 _Julia nodded and she then began to set down leaves before she paused and said, "I can put a lot, right?"_

 _"You can put as many as you'd like," Beckett said, putting Eliza on her lap. "It's up to you."_

 _"It is your picture," Castle added._

 _With a nod to her parents Julia proceeded to set down a few more leaves before she asked her father to help her set down the paper that would go on top. Without a word to them she chose her colors that she wanted, taking out the reds, oranges and yellows before she began to rub those crayons over the leaves._

 _Watching her as she worked Castle said, "I feel jealous."_

 _"If you want you can make a picture yourself," Beckett said teasingly._

 _"I'll pass, I think she should have the only picture on the fridge," Castle replied._

 _"I can put this on the fridge?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"Of course, you're finished?" Castle said. "Kate look at this," he then said when Julia nodded._

 _Leaning over to be able to see the picture Beckett smiled and said, "You did a good job with that sweetie, I like the way the colors go into each other."_

 _"Thanks, I love fall," Julia said. "Can I put this up now?"_

 _"We'll all go," Castle said before he and Beckett stood. When they were in the kitchen at the fridge he helped her set the magnets on it to hold it up. "Very nice," he said when they'd stepped back to look at it._

 _"It is, brightens up the room," Beckett said with a smile at her husband._

 _"I was just going to say that," Castle told her._

 _"I knew," Beckett said before she realized Julia was tugging her sleeve._

 _"Can I hold her?" the little girl asked, holding her hands up to her mother._

 _Beckett didn't say anything to that, merely handed over Eliza to her before she watched her walk away. "Julia-" she began to say._

 _"You'll stay in the family room, right?" Castle called after her._

 _"Yeah," Julia said._

 _"Why-" Beckett began before her husband was wrapping his arms around her and kissing her deeply._

 _The two eventually became so involved with their kiss that they didn't notice their daughters were in the hall again, Julia whispering to Eliza, "It's a good thing they do that and they love each other."_

 _Hearing the familiar babble of their youngest and realizing where the two girls were Castle slowly pulled back and said, "They're watching us."_

 _"Then it looks like it's back to her art," Beckett said with a smile. They shared one more kiss and they went together down to Julia who beamed up at them as Eliza giggled and squealed in joy._


	19. Given Up The Game (Part 2)

"Luckily we had enough manpower to get a good part of the list finished," Brad told Castle and Beckett once they were inside his office. "But of course, we found nothing so far. I did get the idea of stolen bikes but the area might be too wide for that."

"But you're still trying," Beckett commented.

"I am," Brad said with a nod. "And Fletcher is completely set, we looked a little more into Mr. Fletcher but no one who worked with him says he was acting weird or felt threatened so I wonder about his murder."

"What about the vic's e-mails? Her computer?" Castle asked then.

"Tech's still going through it, she had a lot of data on there," Brad answered. "So… we're a little stalled but we could use your help with the list."

"Interesting you didn't tell us that when you texted us," Castle said wryly.

"I had to make sure you'd come out to help," Brad said.

"We're going now," Beckett said with a sigh, reaching over and pulling Castle with her to their desk. She took the paper that Brad handed her and asked the chief, "What are you going to do?"

"Looking into the past owner of the polo field," he replied. "I'd like to see if he knew anything about that room or our vic."

"He might have," Castle said. "Eileen's lived here all her life. What about an angle where meth is involved?"

"Looking into that too. Let me know if you have anything," Brad told them before he went over to his office.

"He's not happy," Castle commented.

"I don't think he would be," Beckett replied. "There isn't really all that much to go through. Alright, read over the numbers for me."

Castle nodded and began doing just that, watching her searching each person who had a bike those same colors Fletcher had seen. He wasn't surprised when they soon made their way all the way through to the section they'd been given and they had nothing. "Do we really want to tell him?" he asked his wife.

"I think we should," Beckett said, standing up. They went over to the office and she opened her mouth to speak when Brad beat her.

"Nothing, I had a feeling," the chief said. "So, I spoke with Robert Manuel and he told us the same as what we heard before, a rumor about the room but he never saw it."

"So where does that leave us?" Beckett asked.

Brad sighed and said, "A little lost." He became thoughtful and said, "And needing to look at things from the start," before he got up with Castle and Beckett and together they looked at their murder board before the latter spoke first and broke the silence of the room.

"I know we talked to Sandy about Eileen's recent behavior," Beckett began. "But we never mentioned any long absences."

"That's true…" Brad began. He then said, "Would that not have been out of character for her?"'

"No, she would go around the island and even the city to pick up books for the store which would take time," Castle replied. He wasn't surprised that Brad still looked confused so he said, "She would buy books from other stores to bring back here; mainly older ones that no one showed any interest in."

"And how lucky was she in selling them?" Brad said.

"She did fairly well," Beckett answered. "She would have them in a display right in front and point them out."

"I've bought a couple books because of her pushing them," Castle commented. "But Beckett's right; if she was out any longer than she said…"

"Sandy didn't mention that," Beckett reminded him.

Breathing out hard Castle said, "Then we might have to look at the records for the store."

"You think she might have lied?" Brad asked.

"Considering what's been going on lately…" Castle replied. "Look the envelope where we found the pictures-"

"Clean," Brad interrupted. "And talking with some contractors they believe the wall was patched up about… two months ago."

"We didn't destroy so much of it they couldn't tell?" Castle said.

"No," Brad replied. "I'm wondering who exactly hid this. The killer or our vic."

"It would be a little hard to imagine Eileen doing that," Beckett said. "Which I think," she said as she turned around to face the two. "Means one thing."

"What?" the men said at the same time.

"She was supposed to find it," Beckett answered.

"That would make sense," Castle said, warming up to the idea quickly. "She probably wanted to give the paper to one of us in the changing room. More than likely me or David. But she couldn't as she saw the killer was there so she gave it to Hutchinson instead because who better to hand it over to?"

"Sir?" the officer said before Castle could continue.

"Yeah?" Brad said, looking at his officer.

"I forgot to mention," Hutchinson said slowly. "Before she handed me the paper the vic was speaking to a man… well the man seemed to be trying to talk to her. She didn't appear to really be eager to do so."

"Did you recognize him?" Beckett asked.

"No but he was around… early forties, black hair and brown eyes," Hutchinson replied. "About five eleven too but I had to break up a fight in the parking lot so-"

Holding up his hand so she would stop Brad assured her, "I saw the instigator in holding yesterday and I caught the footage of it so I'm not surprised. Luckily you remembered now. And if you saw him again would you recognize him?"

"Yes sir," Hutchinson replied with a firm nod.

When the woman had left Castle said, "I changed my mind."

"What you think he was the killer?" Brad asked.

"No, I think she was going to give the paper to you," Castle said, directing most of that to his wife.

"Just because Hutchinson is a woman?" Beckett asked, her eyebrow slightly raised.

"I'm not being sexist… oh you had the same thought," Castle started to say before trailing off when he saw the smile on her face. "But why you?"

"Don't look at me," Brad replied. "You know already."

"It's not because she knew me," Beckett said, shaking her head. "There has to be… the house," she said, realizing suddenly.

"Do people know you were kidnapped there?" Castle said in surprise.

"It was on the local news after it happened," Brad replied. "She easily could have seen it there."

"So she knew there was something she needed at the house," Castle said. "The problem becomes the report number."

"Hold on," Brad said before he left the office.

"There's a camera on the case file room, right?" Castle asked his wife.

"There is," Beckett said before she jumped slightly at her phone ringing. "The clinic," she said to her husband after she looked at the screen. "Hello?" she asked, putting it on speaker.

"Ms. Beckett," the woman on the other end said. "This is Dr. Linden I'm calling to give you an update on your horse."

"Lottie," Beckett said. "How's she doing?"

"We just finished another checkup on her and she's doing very well, the pony too," Linden replied. "I would say that she can return to the stables tomorrow morning."

"You're just making sure for the rest of today?" Beckett asked.

"Exactly, plus we're studying her to make sure she's okay with the diet we have her on at the moment," Linden replied. "I'll let you go but I will call back if there's any reason."

After thanking the vet Beckett hung up and said to her husband, "She was in there early."

"It was serious yesterday," Castle replied. "And she is dedicated."

With a nod Beckett looked at her watch and said, "It's too early to text Julia though."

"Do you want me to remind you?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I'll remember," before she pocketed her phone and then looked up with her husband to see that Brad was walking quickly over to them. "Did you spot something on the security footage?"

"Yeah, you guys need to come see this," the chief told them before he led them over to Bernier's desk where the officer was sitting behind the computer. "Go ahead and start it," he told the man.

Watching the footage, looking down on the doorway to the room where the police reports were filed, Castle's eyes widened when a group of people walked by it. "The last open house?" he asked Brad.

"Exactly," the chief replied. "Watch," he then instructed them.

Someone broke off from the group then and Beckett leaned forward at the sight of a familiar figure slipping inside the room. "Eileen," she stated.

"She found it herself," Brad said with a nod, not surprised at the shock on their faces.

"So does this have to do with the case?" Castle asked.

"I looked into it chief," Wade said, in the desk pushed up against Bernier's. "And the drug dealer is in jail still."

"Was he on his own? Any outside communication?" Beckett asked.

"Yes and no," Wade said. "I contacted the prison and they said he never has visitors and the only person he talked to was his lawyer."

"Call the lawyer, make sure it really is just his lawyer," Brad replied. "Set that aside for evidence."

Inside Brad's office Castle said, "This isn't adding up. What is she searching for?"

"Whatever it was," the chief told them. "It got her killed."

"The problem is we don't have enough information to know which way it'll go," Beckett told them. "Either she was finding things out about the killer or the killer lured her into thinking she was searching for something to be able to kill her."

Sighing Brad said, "Can you two take control of the book angle?"

"You want us to go out?" Castle asked. When the chief nodded he looked at his wife and he said, "Shouldn't we take an officer?"

"He's deciding who," Beckett told her husband.

"I was, tell Hutchinson you need the information on the books and you two need to somehow talk to Sandy because she'll be able to give you a better idea when her wife was going out for books," Brad told them.

"We'll be back," Beckett said. She then paused and said, "Two months?"

"That sounds about right," Brad replied with a nod. "We should just take the wall as our cue to when the vic became involved in all of this if it wasn't her searching for the killer."

With that Beckett pulled Castle out to the bull pen and told Hutchinson they needed her to come with them downtown. When she and her husband were in the car; with her driving; she said, "Now I think you can say it might have been a treasure hunt."

"I thought that myself," Castle replied. "Though I wonder what exactly the killer wanted to do with something so elaborate as hiding pictures inside a wall in a derelict house."

Beckett couldn't really reply to that as she couldn't think of a response before she said, "We might be dead in the water sooner rather than later."

"I don't know," Castle replied. "Maybe Brad will get something; or more hopefully we will."

Since she was parking then at the bookstore Beckett got out and said to her husband across the roof of the car, "Would you be able to tell if she was lying about getting a book?"

"I don't know," Castle replied once she was on the sidewalk with him. "Unless she was lying about getting a really rare one probably not. But I'll see what I can do."

Nodding Beckett waited for Hutchinson to reach them before she led the way into the store. She quickly saw who was at the register and she said in surprise, "Sandy?"

"Hey," the woman said uneasily when she saw the officer following them. "What can I help you with?"

"Is there a back room?" Beckett asked. "And someone who could take over for you?"

"Yeah, sure," Yearling said before she called into the store for someone. When the man had reached them, she stood aside for them and led the three to the back where they stepped into the multi-purpose room telling them, "This is the break room and file room and office."

"That helps us," Castle commented.

"So… why are you here?" Yearling said hesitantly.

"We knew that Eileen would go out around to get books from other stores," Beckett began as she and Castle sat with Yearling at the table there. "In the last two months was there ever a time that was suspicious."

"I-" Yearling began before she cut herself off.

"There was a time?" Castle asked.

"I think so…" Yearling said before she got up and went quickly to a file, opening the top drawer and taking out some papers. "I didn't remember before because it wasn't exactly strange at the time," she explained before she came back to them. "But now that you mention books there was one instance about a month and a half ago that didn't really sit right."

Taking the paper that the woman handed to her Beckett frowned and said, "Was it always hand written?"

"It was easier for her that way since the exchanges were done via word of mouth," Yearling said.

"Exchanges?" Beckett and Castle said at the same time.

"Yes," Yearling replied. "Not all the time but every once in a while she would exchange one of our books that wasn't selling for another."

"And did you notice that?" Castle asked.

"Not at first but about two weeks ago when I was looking at everything I saw it," Yearling said. "Ellie told me it was a mistake and I took her at her word."

"Since it's hand written I'm not surprised you would believe that," Beckett assured her. "What was the book that she was supposed to have exchanged?"

"A copy of _Paradise Lost_ published in 1965," Yearling replied. When the two looked at her in surprise she said, "We sold it about a week later."

"Do you remember who bought it?" Castle asked after he and Beckett looked at each other.

"I wasn't here," Yearling replied. "All I know is that we sold it."

"Was there anything else strange about that trip?" Beckett then asked.

"No, she said she was going to East Setauket," Yearling said. "And she took about as long as expected going there, performing the transaction at the Oceanside Bookshop, having dinner and coming back."

"Dinner?" Castle said.

"She called me, by the time she finished, that she was going to stop for a quick bite as it was dinner time and she was starving," Yearling replied. "She took about three hours before she came home." She looked between the two and asked, "Does that help?"

"It does," Beckett said, standing up. "If you remember anything else concerning Eileen and the shop that stands out to you please let us know," she told her.

"Of course," Yearling murmured with a nod before she watched them leave.

"So where does that put you?" Hutchinson asked.

"Do we need to go to East Setauket?" Castle asked his wife before she could answer the question.

"I have no idea," Beckett replied. "We'd need to consider it more. Let's go back so we can let Brad know."

Inside the car Castle asked his wife once they were stopped at a red light, "We can track her phone, right?"

"I was thinking of doing that," Beckett said to him with a nod. "Hopefully she used her phone over there and we can track her movements."

"Something's telling me that she did," Castle said seriously. He smiled when his wife glanced at him and said, "Just a guess."

When they returned to the station Castle and Beckett went straight to the chief who was in his office looking at his computer.

"You have something," he said to them.

"East Setauket," Castle said first.

"The vic when there a month and a half ago, supposedly to exchange a book with the Oceanside Bookshop," Beckett continued

"And she never did," Brad replied.

"She only got a book," Castle replied. "But she had three hours. What if she just bought the book, that wouldn't take a long time."

"I'll give the store a call," Brad said, reaching for his phone as he went on the computer at the same time.

Waiting for him to make the call Castle sat down in front of the desk as Beckett went back to the murder board to write down the new information they had. He joined her at it eventually when Brad started to talk to the owner of the bookstore and said, "I feel sorry for Mr. Fletcher."

"Me too," Beckett replied as the man had had no purpose except as a way to frame Fletcher. "Though I wonder if we could find anyone in new friends."

"We already asked about that," Brad said, having hung up the phone then. "And there was no one new that anyone was aware of among his friends. So he likely kept them secret or it was a random attack."

"He had to have let the guy in," Castle pointed out. "There were no signs of forced entry."

"And if he allowed them into the house?" Beckett said.

Castle sighed and said, "I was thinking of that myself. Basically, we have no idea what exactly happened."

"We do know one thing," Brad said. "The vic lied to her wife."

"There was more time to her trip?" Beckett asked as she sat next to her husband.

"She was only at the store for… fifteen, twenty minutes," Brad began. "And it takes an hour to go to East Setauket, another hour back."

"Then it depends on her dinner," Castle said. "Do you have her credit card records from that day?"

"I do but it would be more helpful if you would ask Yearling if her wife told her where she ate," Brad said as he got up.

Taking the phone from the desk Beckett dialed the number for the bookstore that she already knew, putting it on speakerphone. "Sandy," she said when the woman had answered. "It's Kate Beckett and Richard Castle. We have one more question to ask you about your wife's East Setauket trip."

"Okay," Yearling replied.

"Did she ever tell you what she ate that night for dinner?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, she just picked up a burger at a fast food place," Yearling answered.

"Do you know if she paid cash or used her credit card?" Castle then said.

"Um… likely her credit card," Yearling replied after she'd thought that over. "She rarely carried cash on her trips."

"Thank you, that's a big help," Beckett said. "And we forgot to ask, what exactly was the timeline of her trip?"

"She left at six and was back by nine," Yearling said. "The bookstore closed at eight."

"Okay, that helps us too," Beckett said. After she had thanked the woman she and Castle said goodbye and turned to Brad as he was walking into the office. "She bought fast food."

"Which gives her time for whatever she was there for," Castle said.

"I see the charge right here," the chief replied before he walked up to them. "And she bought the food at seven fifteen."

"So she ate it… before she did whatever she did," Castle commented. "Can you get into touch with the police there; see if they can track her movements?"

"I have a better idea," Brad replied. "Her cell phone."

"Won't that take time?" Castle asked.

"Not much we can do," Brad said. "I'll be working on that," he told them before he left them.

"Are you late?" Castle asked when he heard his wife gasp before he looked to see she had grabbed her phone.

"No, just in time," Beckett replied, texting their oldest quickly.

"Hopefully she has time to read that," Castle said. "Or that she can I should say."

"She will," Beckett said. "In the meantime, let's see if there's anything we can do."

"After you," Castle said before they left the office together.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't wanna go play?" Mari asked Julia as they sat on the limbs of the tree they'd been climbing at the edge of the field.

"Yeah," Julia said. She then whistled to her sister, waving when she turned to them after obviously searching for them.

"What's she gonna do?" Mari asked as the little girl was running to them.

"We have to go down; my parents would be livid if she climbed and then fell," Julia said.

"But we just got here," Mari said.

"I guess you can stay," Julia told her with a smile.

"Nah I'll go with you," Mari replied, climbing down after her friend.

"Did Mommy text you?" Eliza asked her sister hopefully.

"No," Julia said, shaking her head. She wasn't surprised when her sister frowned and she explained, "They do have the case to work on."

"Mommy would still say," Eliza protested.

"Not if she's really busy and found a clue," Julia protested.

Eliza opened her mouth to object but found that she wasn't able to think of anything to say so she breathed out hard and then said, "Text her."

"I can't," Julia replied. "If they see me holding the phone I'll get in trouble."

"What do we do now?" Mari asked her, having just been watching the sisters talk.

"Sit and wait," Julia said, doing so on the grass then.

"Think I can ask Gram to take me to get lunch?" Eliza asked after she and Mari were sitting as well.

"I don't think so," Julia told her with a smile. "Remember Daddy was telling Gram about the soup he made. She's gonna make you grilled cheese."

"I like grilled cheese," Eliza said with a nod.

Her phone shaking in her pocket Julia jumped and quickly got it before she read the screen and said, "It's Mommy."

"What does she say?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"She says the vet said Lottie is okay," Julia said before she breathed out heavily. "And the pony is too."

"Good," Eliza said. "Is she gonna come home."

"She means the stables," Julia quickly told her friend. "Not yet, Mommy says they want to watch her for just a little longer."

"I wanna see her," Eliza said.

"Since it's Julia's horse now you will see her," Mari pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Eliza said in realization. She then noticed that her sister was texting their mother; trying to be quick; and she said, "Tell her I said hi and I miss them."

"I did," Julia said. "'Cause I said the same thing."

Mari was going to speak when the bell rang and she sighed heavily saying, "I guess she gave you the message in time."

"And I gave her the one from me too," Julia said with a smile before she hurriedly pocketed her phone. "Come on; let's go before we're too late." As they rushed over the field together to make it in time she had to wonder what her mother would say to her message; not having told her sister and Mari all of it.

* * *

"What is it?" Castle asked, turning from where he was making tea for himself and Beckett.

"Julia answered my text," Beckett said, not surprised he was wondering about her laughter. She showed him her phone and with a smile said, "I guess she really wants to help us," as Julia had begged her to text her at lunch for an 'update about new clues.'

"Cute," Castle said with a smile. "But I wonder if we shouldn't talk to her about that."

"She knows," Beckett replied. "I think we'll need to tell her about the case again. But later."

"How are you?" Castle asked after he'd handed his wife the cup of tea he'd made her.

"Not that tired but before we had breakfast I was," Beckett said with a smile. "I'm not surprised your mom picked up on that. You?"

"I was tired too. Are you okay right now?" Castle said since they couldn't really do much to help with getting their newest suspects to the station. Luckily, they'd been able to find that the vic had gone to a home in East Setauket and Brad had gone out to find the couple that owned the house to bring them in. That had been nearly an hour before and when his wife nodded to his question he said, "Could you have replied to her text before the bell rang at school?"

"No," Beckett said, since they'd been too involved with Brad and the cell phone records to have looked at the text from Julia until then. "But I set it to send when she's at lunch."

"That's still an hour," Castle commented. "We should talk to her."

"That's going to be harder to do," Beckett said simply. "Though I feel the same way."

Castle smiled and squeezed her hand tightly before they moved to sit around the table to wait before the couple was brought in. He knew they had a while but he didn't say anything for some time before he was looking at his wife when he heard her beginning to speak.

"I need to confess I'm feeling a little uneasy about this couple," Beckett told him.

"I agree, since they have no real connection to Eileen," Castle agreed since they'd looked into the pair and had seen nothing that really spoke to them having any part of the vic's life. His wife had called Yearling and the woman had had no idea who exactly Kyle and Rachelle Calland were so they needed to speak to the couple before they could go any further with the case.

Looking over at the bull pen Beckett stood when she saw a man and woman being led by officers in uniform she assumed were from East Setauket. "Not what I expected," she murmured as the couple was dressed very professionally and seemed unaffected about being escorted by the police.

"The box?" Castle asked as they stepped into the doorway and watched Brad motion the two into the room.

"Since they don't seem to really care they're here it's the best place," Beckett said before she led the way over to the chief.

"Castle," Brad said once he'd reached the two. "I need you to step out on this."

"I had a feeling once they walked in," Castle replied with a shrug. He followed his wife and friend to interrogation and detoured into the observation room to watch them as they entered the interview room while he was watching.

"Mr. Calland," Brad said once the door was closed behind him. "And Mrs. Calland. This is my consultant Ms. Beckett and-"

"We're aware of her," Mrs. Calland commented, staring at Beckett as she and the chief sat down.

"Where is your husband?" Mr. Calland then asked.

"Not here," Beckett said simply. "We're wondering," she began, pushing a picture of the vic that Brad had handed her to the couple. "Do you know this woman?"

"Of course," Mrs. Calland replied as she and her husband leaned over to see. "That's Eileen McGale."

"So you're acquainted with her," Brad said, watching the two.

In observation Castle felt a little uneasy as the husband and wife looked to each other and the latter smiled. When he glanced to his wife next he saw that she was shifting a little in her seat and realized she was feeling the same too before turning his attention to Mrs. Calland as she spoke.

"Of course," the woman replied.

"And how do you know her," Beckett said, trying not to sound angry at needing to prompt her.

"She was a guest of our home the last two months," Mr. Calland answered.

"A regular guest," Brad stated.

"I suppose you don't know about us," Mrs. Calland said, a wide smile appearing on her face. "We host; every other Friday night… a certain type of party."

"A sex party," Beckett; and Castle in observation though she didn't know it; said.

"You do realize that's illegal," Brad told them.

"Is it?" Mr. Calland replied.

"East Setauket doesn't have laws against them," Beckett then said, looking at Brad at the end.

"No so we're well within our rights," Mr. Calland said. "I'm a lawyer," he told them.

"We're aware of that," Brad replied. "So she was going to these parties. Alone? With someone?"

"She was alone," Mrs. Calland replied. "A number of guests come on their own and meet. But we provide protection of course, we're not holding orgies."

Castle rolled his eyes as he wondered what exactly protection had to do with orgies but then realized something before he left the room. "Wade," he called to the first officer he saw.

"And did you ever notice her… meeting anyone?" Beckett asked.

"Yes, but you can just watch if you'd like to," Mrs. Calland said. "We allow that."

"Did she ever just watch?" Brad said.

"No, she was with someone," Mrs. Calland replied before looking at his wife.

"What?" the chief said, his irritation showing in his tone.

"We don't allow same sex couples," Mr. Calland replied. "And Saturday night we found her with three women."

"And they were having sex," Beckett stated.

"No, they were talking," Mrs. Calland said with a sneer. "This… Eileen as you called her was trying to tell them to rebel against us."

"Rebel," Beckett said in disbelief.

"Against our policy," Mr. Calland replied. "But once we came over to them they split up and I escorted her out. I also told her not to come back. Which I suppose she won't do now."

"Was she ever with a man before that point?" Beckett asked.

"She was, Lenny Rozario," Mrs. Calland said. "But according to him when we talked to him after they just kissed… briefly before she left him."

"One last question," Brad told the couple. "What were you two doing yesterday morning between eleven and twelve?"

"We were in the city," Mr. Calland said first. "We ate brunch at _Le Circe_ and went to the Met before traveling along Fifth Avenue for a time."

"Alright," Brad said, standing up to end the interview. He was leading them out, Beckett stepping into the bull pen first, when he said, "Do you keep track of who goes to your parties?"

"Of course, we send out codes to e-mails," Mr. Calland replied as he and his wife stopped in front of Beckett and the chief. "We can send you the list if you'd like."

"That would help," Brad said, trying not to sound too wry at the obviousness of that. He was going to take them out of the station himself when he was stopped by Mrs. Calland walking up to Beckett.

"You know you and your husband-" the woman began.

"Are extremely happy on our own and to ourselves," Beckett cut her off firmly.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Calland asked, her eyes raking down her body.

"Very sure," Beckett said, trying not to grind her teeth together at the hypocrisy of the woman. "You might need to change your policy," she whispered so Mr. Calland wouldn't hear.

Mrs. Calland immediately looked annoyed and went to her husband, taking his hand and walking out of the bull pen before Brad could take them himself.

"Okay," the chief said with a sigh. "Let's regroup and see what we have," he told Beckett before he went to observation, wondering why Castle wasn't coming out yet.

"I'm here," he said before his friend could open the door. "I remembered something and wanted to check on it."

"What?" Brad asked while they walked to his desk.

"Do you remember Eileen asking us the last time we saw her about if we'd heard about any sex parties?" Castle said to his wife.

"Yeah," Beckett replied. When she saw Brad was looking to them with his eyes wide she explained, "We thought it was just a joke since we had been talking about the 'dirty little secrets' of Long Island. But I guess it wasn't for her."

"But that was a while ago," Castle added. "What this has to do with her murder… I don't know."

"Alright," Brad said. "You missed some of the stuff we talked about with them I'm sure. Basically, they said she was there on Saturday-"

"Was she with a man?" Castle interrupted.

"For a little," Beckett said, not surprised the chief took that moment to hurry over to his computer. "A Lenny Rozario and I thought the same thing; he might be the man that Hutchinson saw with Eileen at the field." She then looked at Brad and asked, "Want me to keep going?"

"Sure," Brad said as he was looking at his computer screen.

"After that though they 'caught' her with three other women," Beckett continued. "She was apparently talking to them, trying to get them to rebel against the rule they have against same sex relations."

"Really?" Castle said.

"That's what they said," Brad commented though he was still looking at his computer. "And it probably won't last long since Mrs. Calland was interested in your wife." He then looked over at them and asked, "Who hasn't hit on you?"

"You," Beckett said seriously.

"Uh, you're not my type," Brad told her quickly. "Oh, and we're supposed to get a list."

"You don't sound so sure," Castle commented, looking at his friend.

"No but then again, I'm not sure about them," Brad replied.

"Do we need to tell someone to look into their alibi?" Beckett said.

"Hold on," Brad said. "Hutchinson," he called out to the bullpen.

"Sir?" the officer said once she was in the office.

"Is this the man you saw with our vic?" Brad asked as he stood.

Walking around him to look at the screen Hutchinson nodded firmly and told him, "Yeah, that's him. Do you need to bring him in?"

"Have Bernier look for him and if he's close enough tell him and Hall to go," Brad replied, sitting down again. "You though I need to contact _Le Circe_ in the city and then the Met. We need security camera footage if possible from the entrances yesterday. Thanks." When they were alone again he looked up at Castle and Beckett and said, "If we get the list I want you two to look at the names."

"We've never been to one of those parties," Castle said after he and his wife shared a look.

"I know that, but you had an idea of who was at the polo field yesterday," Brad explained. "If you see a name that you recognize that would relate to who might have been at the game I want to know."

With a nod Beckett watched him go and she said, "They were both looking at me."

" _You realize that you're insanely attractive love_ ," Castle commented. When she glanced at him he said, " _I'm sticking with that; you are_."

With a sigh Beckett shook her head before she said, " _It doesn't matter, we wouldn't go_."

" _Not even to try_ …" Castle said jokingly. When she rolled her eyes he quickly told her, " _I heard what you told her and you're right, I prefer to be on our own_." He studied her and asked, " _You don't have a voyeur fetish, do you_?"

Smiling, as he had to use the word spy instead of voyeur, Beckett said, " _Only with you_."

" _Good_ ," Castle said before they looked over at the doorway as Brad came in.

"You're not going to believe this," the chief began when he was inside.

"They sent the list?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah," Brad said. "You two don't sound so surprised," he said as he went to his desk.

"It helps clear them," Castle commented. "Besides they don't want to risk too much media attention to them."

"Does the state not have any laws against this kind of thing?" Beckett asked the chief when he was on his computer.

"Oh sure, but they're both lawyers so there has to be a loophole in this," Brad said. "I'll contact the police over there but… I think they might be connected."

"Or their guests are high ranking in the city," Castle said. "You think it's honestly that safe?"

"No idea," Brad replied. "But," he then said. "Why was she there?"

"That we might not be able to figure out," Beckett said. "Unless she knew the women she was talking to."

"You guys didn't ask about clothing," Castle said.

"No clothing," Brad said. When the two looked at him he said, "Mr. Calland was helpful enough to tell me in his e-mail they weren't dressed for very long in the house once the party began."

"Are you printing out the list?" Beckett asked.

"I have to, everyone needs to help me on this," Brad said. "Hopefully it'll be better than the motorcycles."

"But this might help tie into a motorcycle now you have some names," Castle pointed out.

"True," Brad said before going over to his printer, pulling out some papers. "I'll pass this out, take a look."

Sitting side by side and close to one another Castle and Beckett began to go down the names that were on it before they paused at the same time at one.

" _Damn it_ ," Castle swore as he stood up.

"You saw a name?" Brad asked, coming back to them.

"Theodore Greenspan," Beckett read. She wasn't surprised when she got a blank look from the chief and said, "That's Rick's teammate; we all call him Theo."


	20. Only The Shell On The Ground

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: It was nice to receive the feedback I did so let me go ahead and get to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (Not surprised at all to see that you were so enthusiastic but of course I was very pleased to see you were. And doubly not surprised you loved it because of a possible Caskett baby, I'd been wondering if you'd think that and I was right, lol. I figured the ending of the chapter would lead to some speculation and I wanted it so was great to see yours about Theo and what he has to do with Eileen too. Yeah, I've seen malnourished horses as well so I'm not surprised you can picture Lottie and it's definitely a sad thing. Happy to see you say that about Julia, I do try to write her sweet a bit; just 'cause of what she and Beckett went through. And of course, I'm pleased to see you thought it was great writing as usual!),  
TORONTOSUN (It was very nice to see that you like how they're comfortable as a family since I do try to write them that way. And so pleased to read too that you like how they are very in tune when it comes to a case; that's why they're so good at it together and what I try my best to portray!) and  
vetgirlmx (You wrapped up the new information very succinctly so I definitely enjoyed reading that. And I'm glad you didn't see the sex parties coming. And every town has secrets like that; I mean that literally as I once saw a show about police trying to bust a house that was throwing sex parties so that stayed with me, lol, since I saw it a long time ago. Plus I remember neighbors saying they didn't know that was going on so that stayed with me too 'cause that works for this kind of thing. But I'm glad you said not a dull moment since that's what I was aiming for with that too! Great to see you loved the flashback and saw what I was going for, something adorable with Julia taking care of baby Eliza. And it was nice you mention Julia asking for an update on the case and I loved that you said she has Castle's curiosity since I'm aiming to show she has that too, lol. But I loved you enjoyed that too! Seeing you wondering about the pictures and why they were important if the vic had to find them was interesting. Also that you had zero theories about it but you're right, it does change things. And it did make me smile that you said things aren't what they appear to be, you know me very well after all my stories, lol, but yeah, you'll definitely see! Not surprised you think the case is getting weirder; what I aimed for and thought readers would be thinking, lol. And great that you can't wait to see what happens next and now you don't need to anymore!).  
Thanks so, so much for the reviews, I loved reading them as always and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Deceptively Yours_ by Peter Malick, from The Peter Malick Group album featuring Norah Jones called _New York City_.

Only The Shell On The Ground

"Theodore Greenspan," Brad said. "Born in the Bahamas and moved here with his family when he was five."

"It's why he kind of has a British accent," Castle said to that.

"How well do you know him?" Brad then asked his friend and Beckett.

"Really well," Castle replied. "He's been on the team since we formed it."

"Tell me about him," Brad said, leaning back in his chair. "What wouldn't be on the file?"

Breathing out Castle said, "He's wealthy, he divorced into money."

"Divorced," Brad stated.

"He married and then divorced," Beckett picked up. "But that was before we met him."

"And was it amicable?" Brad asked.

"Not exactly," Castle said. "They had signed a prenup and first was if either of them had an affair then the other would get the bulk of her money."

"Who was his wife?" Brad said, surprised that they hadn't said the name.

"We're not sure," Beckett answered. "Like I said, it was before we met him."

"It should be in his information," Castle said, nodding to the computer screen.

"Anything else?" Brad said.

"He doesn't have any kids," Castle picked up then. "And he works at the Hamptons Central Bank; manager there." He sighed and then looked at his wife saying, "And apparently participating in sex parties."

"He's here," Brad said, looking past Castle and Beckett to the bull pen. "I can't allow either of you to sit in on the interview."

"Are you taking him into the box?" Castle asked as they stood almost at the same time.

"I am," Brad replied. "You can sit in observation but do not try to interfere," he told them. When they nodded he led the way out and slipped inside the room while the two stayed behind him.

"Mr. Greenspan," Brad was saying once he was sitting across from the man. "I saw you yesterday at the polo match, you're a good player."

"Yes, but I'm sure you didn't bring me here to tell me that," Theo replied.

"No," Brad said. "Do you know these people?"

Castle sighed when Theo's eyes went wide and he felt his wife's hand on his arm before he turned his attention back to the room.

"I do," Theo said before he looked at the mirror behind the chief. "Is Rick there?"

"Answer the question please," Brad told him simply.

With a sigh Theo replied, "I know them, you probably know already but they throw… sex parties at their home in East Setauket."

"And you attended them," Brad stated.

"Which you know already," Theo said, nodding.

"Tell me how you started to go to these parties," Brad told him. "How many you have gone to?"

"I started from the beginning," Theo said. "I knew them through my ex-wife and they approached me thinking I might enjoy being with people again. I haven't gone to every one but I have gone to a number of them."

"And you ended up going to one on Saturday night," Brad said, standing up. He went over to the mirror and said, "The night before your game."

"I wasn't there for that long," Theo protested though he didn't know what he was protesting exactly.

"You were there in the changing room when we found the body," Brad said, turning around.

"So?" Theo replied.

"Do you know this woman?" Brad asked as he slid the DMV picture of the vic with long hair to the man.

"I saw her at the party," Theo said, nodding rapidly to the chief. A look of realization spread across his face and he lifted the picture up to study it again. "This is her?" he asked.

"Did you ever see her before Saturday night?" Brad asked.

"No, Saturday was the only time that I ever saw her," Theo said.

"Did you speak to her?" Brad said.

"Oh god," Castle said with a groan when he saw his teammate nodding his head.

"She asked me to help her undress," Theo replied after breathing out heavily in the room. "Since the drill is go inside, they take a roll call," he said, nodding to the picture of the Callands. "To make sure everyone's there that said they would be and no one crashes the party either. And as soon as they're done we pair off to go into rooms… well, usually there's about four people to each room if you go upstairs. Downstairs it's wherever you can find space not near a window even though they're covered."

"So, you two undressed each other," Brad said to bring him back to what he'd been telling him.

"Yeah and she asked if I was playing in a mixed game the next afternoon and I was. But not at the polo fields where she was found, in Southampton," Theo said with a nod. "When I said yes she started to beg me to throw the game if it was at all possible."

"Did she tell you why?" Brad said as he looked up at the man, sitting down again.

"No but she was insistent, so much so she almost performed oral sex on me," Theo said. "I stopped her because I wasn't going to be bribed to throw a game that was essentially a friendly. I told her that and she ran off looking upset before I followed her to find she was going with another woman upstairs. And that was the last I saw her until the next day in the changing room."

"Do you know who the woman was?" Brad asked.

"No, she was new," Theo replied. "But… the weird thing is I realized later that I have no idea what game she was talking about. The tournament I was in yesterday afternoon was randomly picked; I had no clue who I would be playing."

Leaving the man there Brad stood and went to observation, nearly running into Castle before he said, "Don't."

"It's not him," Castle replied. "You should look into the woman that she went with. You have the names from the Callands."

"I was going to do that. What I need to do is ask your wife what she thinks," Brad said, not surprised his friend looked startled.

"I'm agreeing with Castle," Beckett said easily. "It's not him and I don't think he was really involved either. Talk to the woman and then the other two and see who it was that was going to play in the game she wanted him to throw."

"Yeah…" Brad began. He started to leave before he then turned to look at his friend saying, "You can escort him out."

Castle was tempted to ask if his friend was sure but managed to keep quiet as he left before he looked at his wife. "He-" he began to say.

"He knows he has nothing to hold him with," Beckett said. "And we know his alibi, we all saw him on the field. Go and help him out."

With a quick nod Castle tried not to run out of the room before he went to observation, opening the door. "Theo," he said as his teammate was sitting with his face in his hands.

"Rick," he said, looking up. He jumped up from the table and said, "I-"

"It's alright, I know you didn't do it," Castle replied. "But a sex party?"

Breathing out hard Theo said, "It was the easiest way to be with a woman without a prenup or worrying about an affair." He looked up at Castle and said, "We all used protection; that was non-negotiable."

"We heard," Castle replied. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Theo said though he was standing up.

"Leave, you can go," Castle told him, motioning to the door.

"Are you sure? You won't get in trouble, you're not a cop," Theo said though he looked hopeful.

"I have permission from Chief Davis," Castle assured him. He wasn't surprised when his teammate nearly ran out of the room. He followed Theo to the lobby and stopped him asking, "Did you know her at all."

"No, why?" Theo asked.

Shaking his head Castle said, "Stay in town."

"Good idea," Theo said.

Walking up to her husband to stand next to him Beckett said, "He took that the wrong way."

"Better that he did," Castle said, turning to her. "Brad?" he asked.

"Looking at what we have now from Theo," Beckett replied. "Come on," she told him, taking him by the wrist.

Going into the bull pen Castle and Beckett looked around for the chief and found him inside his office.

"And the women?" Castle asked once they were inside.

"We confirmed them," Brad replied. "A quick call to the Callands and they are Mona Robles, Amy Whyte and Mai Kato."

"Any idea which one plays polo?" Beckett asked.

"All of them do and all of them on separate teams that were all playing at different polo fields on the island," Brad replied. When the two looked at him in surprise he nodded and said, "Yeah so we're going to be looking into them. In the meantime…"

Looking at his watch Castle said, "Already?"

"You couldn't hear your stomach?" Beckett asked her husband jokingly as she was already pulling on her coat.

"Where are you guys going?" Brad said as he stood up as well.

"Probably the Brazilian place that opened near here," Castle replied.

"Should be nice," Brad said, walking out with them once they had their coats and scarves on.

"We'll have our phones," Beckett told him. "So if you call us we'll leave right away."

"I know, just checking," Brad told them. "Tell me how the place is I want to go with Lils."

Assuring the chief that they would do so Castle and Beckett left through the lobby and went together to the sidewalk, walking hand in hand down to the _churrascaria_ that was only a block away.

"Have you been to one of these?" Beckett asked her husband as they were near the restaurant.

"I have, in the city," Castle said. "You?"

With a smile Beckett nodded and said, "We should bring the girls one time."

"Maybe when they're a little older," Castle suggested. "It's a lot of meat for them."

"True," Beckett replied with a nod and a small smile. They were stepping inside the building and she let her husband speak to the hostess before they were seated. When he sat beside her she said, "Think they'll have women walking around?"

"I don't know," Castle replied, knowing she meant in Samba costumes. "But it's early so I don't really think they would."

Beckett smiled when he took her hand and they watched some men and women walking around with meat on skewers. She looked at the hourglass shape that was at the end of the table to make sure it was turned to green and when someone came over to them they took some of the ham with pineapple that was on their skewer. "Do you want to talk about the case?" she asked him after they'd eaten for a little bit.

"Why don't we hold off on that until we're back to it?" Castle replied with a smile. "I wouldn't want to burn out."

"Us or you?" Beckett replied.

"Either or," Castle said before he laughed when she nudged his side carefully with her elbow. "The girls should be eating right now."

"They probably are," Beckett said with a smile. "But let's talk about Tahiti for a moment."

"You're changing your mind?" Castle replied.

"No," Beckett said easily. "What I'm wondering is are we making this a tradition?"

"I'd like to," Castle said earnestly. He then smiled at the woman who was bringing over some filet mignon and after they had some of the meat on their plates he set the shape to the red side. "What do you think though? It is for your birthday."

"I'm fine with it," Beckett replied. "But the girls…" she started to say.

"They would be," Castle said firmly.

"You're so sure?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"I like to think I know our girls," Castle said jokingly. "But we can easily do that every year; I can talk to the owner of the hut."

"It's funny he calls it that," Beckett commented.

"I think it's because of the thatched roof," Castle replied. When she smiled he squeezed her hand and then told her, "What should we do when we get home with them?"

"You feel like we've been ignoring them?" Beckett asked.

"A little bit," Castle confessed. "I think it's because we were working on a Sunday."

"It depends on how long we work today," Beckett told her husband honestly.

With a nod Castle said, "Art?" When she raised her eyebrow at him he said, "Thinking about that time we were showing Eliza the leaves made me remember Julia making that picture of the leaves we still have."

"We can do that with them both," Beckett replied, reaching across him to turn over the shape. "If they want to of course."

"Think they'd want to?" Castle said.

Beckett said with a smile, "You really don't think they would?"

"Just a thought," Castle replied.

"You know our daughters," Beckett told him, pretending to scold him. "Don't worry about it."

"There's one thing that concerns me," Castle said to that.

"Let me guess, Julia's competition?" Beckett asked him. When he nodded she smiled slightly before saying, "I think they'll do well."

"She has a lot in the competition though," Castle said in slight protest. "The marathon dance and dancing with Mari for the first time professionally."

Smiling at his choice of words Beckett gave him a slight nod before she said, "That's true but I really think that she won't be too concerned then."

"She's worrying about that now," Castle pointed out to her. When his wife looked a little doubtful he said, "She is-"

"I know that already," Beckett said quickly, cutting him off. "What I'm thinking about is the idea of her taking that into the competition."

"Though once she's dancing she's usually okay," Castle said.

"I'm hoping she'll do that too," Beckett said. She then squeezed his hand and said, "Don't bring this up though."

"I wasn't going to," Castle told her reassuringly. "Like I said I'm concerned for her." He was surprised when she leaned over then and kissed his cheek before he said, "Really? Here?"

"I could push you to sit over there," Beckett said jokingly, pointing to the other side of the table.

" _You could but you won't_ ," Castle replied.

Rolling her eyes at his certainty Beckett then said, "I think we should finish up and get back to the case."

"That is if Brad gets anything," Castle replied. "That brings me to something else; getting home."

Breathing out Beckett said, "I want to make it to her class but remember they're likely going to practice."

"But they do it all disjointedly," Castle told her. When his wife looked at him he said, "We won't be able to tell what the full dances are yet. And remember the last practice before it we can't go see."

"I guess what you're trying to tell me is that we have to see when we can leave and if we can't make it to the class it's alright," Beckett stated, giving him a look.

"Would you like any dessert?" Castle asked after he'd nodded, smiling when she playfully pushed his shoulder at his reply to what she'd said.

"You think this is it?" Beckett replied with a question.

"You want more?" Castle asked. He was startled when his wife smirked at him and he found that his mouth was suddenly dry. "Maybe later," he said, drinking his Brazilian beer to be able to speak again.

After they had some beef Castle and Beckett put the red shape down before they looked at the dessert menu together.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Castle said after he'd looked over what was offered.

"Okay," Beckett replied, knowing he'd had it already, whatever he was going to pick.

"The _beijinho_ it's a little cake, a little cupcake," Castle told her with a smile.

"Sure," Beckett said before she closed the menu while he was trying to call their waitress. "I'll trust your judgment on this one."

Castle smiled at her and then said, "I've had it before."

Nodding Beckett then took his hand and squeezed it before telling him, "Were you with someone?"

"Yeah," Castle said uncertainly. "A model from Brazil she… explained a number of things to me."

"And the dessert?" Beckett said, not surprised in the slightest.

"I only had it, she didn't want any," Castle replied.

"Did she translate it for you?" Beckett asked. When her husband shook her head she then said to the waitress who had come to their table, "We'd like the _beijinho_. And we're wondering what does that mean?"

"Little kiss," the woman replied. "I will bring it right away."

"I'm glad she didn't translate it during the dinner," Castle commented when they were alone. He was startled when his wife pulled him to her and they shared a brief kiss, making him smile when they'd parted. "You didn't have to," he told her.

"No but I wanted to," Beckett replied, brushing her lips against his. Their dessert was brought out shortly after and they began to eat.

"Well?" Castle asked, watching her closely.

"For some reason, it's reminding me of Tahiti," Beckett replied, a smile on her face.

"That might be the coconut it's made from," Castle said. He finished his in two bites and watched her take four very precise, neat bites before he was signaling for the bill.

While she was waiting for her husband to pay Beckett thought of their daughters, thinking of bringing them there before her mind went to what they were doing right at that moment at their respective lunches.

* * *

"Here you are," Martha was saying to Eliza as she set down the plate in front of her youngest granddaughter. "I think you will enjoy it, I can make a very passable peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just ask your father."

"I can't, he's working," Eliza replied with a giggle before she picked up half of the sandwich and bit into it. When she'd finished eating it she then said, "It's good Gram."

"Perfect," Martha said, eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich she'd made for herself.

"What do we get to do after lunch?" Eliza asked.

With a smile Martha said, "I'm sure you know already; worksheets."

"Do I hafta," Eliza complained.

"Your sister has homework too," Martha pointed out to her.

Sighing Eliza said, "But she's bigger than me."

"She is but you need to learn still," Martha replied. "But don't worry I'll do them with you."

"I can do them Gram," Eliza protested.

"Oh of course, I should have known that," Martha said, trying not to smile as that had been why she'd said that.

"Then we can play," Eliza said firmly.

"Yes," Martha said, smiling that time. She watched her granddaughter for a moment and said, "What's on your mind kiddo?"

"Do you have to go back to the city?" Eliza asked after thinking for a moment.

"I do, don't forget that I have classes I desperately need to get back to," Martha answered. "My students are waiting for me. But I will be back for Thanksgiving of course; I wouldn't miss that. Plus remember your grandfather will be here for some time on Wednesday."

"I'm glad," Eliza said. She then asked, "What are Mommy and Daddy doing now?"

"More than likely having lunch themselves," Martha said after she had checked the time. "Don't worry about them they'll come home tonight in time for dinner."

"Maybe we can have pizza again," Eliza said with a gasp.

"I don't think your mother would be too eager for that," Martha said in amusement. "Or your father for that matter. They'll get us something to eat but let's wait until later to worry about what that is. Now you need to finish your lunch."

Since she only had one bite left of her sandwich and only one carrot stick that her grandmother had placed with it Eliza was soon done and she helped Martha clear the table though it was only their two plates and glasses. She was tempted to ask her if they could play but already knew what her grandmother would tell her. So when Martha came over to her she reached up and held her hand as they walked together down to the family room.

"Calm down you two," Martha said to the dogs. "We're not playing with you."

"We can," Eliza said. When her grandmother looked at her she said, "I will."

"After," Martha replied. She then went to the worksheets her daughter in law had chosen the day before and she said, "It looks like you have some counting, writing and science."

"Yeah?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Yes, but we should leave the science last for you," Martha said, handing her the counting worksheet first. Once her granddaughter was working on it she sat at little to the side of her on the couch and watched her work.

Eliza was quiet as she was writing on her worksheets, pausing and thinking over the answers before she wrote rapidly with her tongue slightly sticking out of her mouth. She went through all three papers like that and when she had finished with the science one she said, "Done."

"Okay, the big moment," Martha told her with a smile. "Let's see how you did."

Watching her grandmother closely Eliza bit at her lower lip and waited for her to tell her any mistakes. She had three, one on each page and fixed them the best she could though Martha had to help her with the science worksheet. "Is it 'cause of the leaves?" she asked when her grandmother got up to set aside the papers.

"What darling?" Martha asked her as she turned to find the little girl hurrying to her.

"The paper, it was about the trees," Eliza replied.

"Most likely," Martha answered. "You know your father loves this time of year."

"And Mommy too," Eliza said.

"And me as well," Martha added.

"I like it too," Eliza said. "Can we play outside?"

Looking out the windows Martha thought for a moment and then said, "You'll need to bundle up but I think we can manage it."

"Kay," Eliza said, bounding out the room and to the foyer.

Chuckling as she walked after her Martha commented, "You remind me of your father you know."

"Why?" Eliza asked as she looked up at her.

"Oh, he would do the same thing," Martha answered. "Always enjoyed going outside it doesn't surprise me he eventually moved into a house."

"I'm happy he did that, him and Mommy," Eliza told her grandmother as she was buttoning her coat. She put on her scarf herself and asked, "Do I gotta wear mittens?"

"Yes," Martha said. "Kiddo," she said quickly when Eliza frowned. "If you tell your mother you went outside you know she'll ask if I bundled you up. And that includes your mittens. Do you really want me to lie to your mother?"

"Yes," Eliza said.

"Oh, you do," Martha stated, slightly taken aback at how firmly she'd spoken but recovering quickly. "Well then you know your mother talks to people for her job," she said.

"Yeah," Eliza began slowly, unsure of what she was going to say.

"She would know that I was lying," Martha said.

"But you're an actress!" Eliza exclaimed.

"And your mother's even better at what she does," Martha told her. "So… mittens Eliza and now."

Though she wanted to still protest the little girl put on the mittens and said, "I wanna play with my hoop."

"That you can do," Martha said before she called to the dogs to join them. They stepped outside and she let Eliza take out her hoop from the box next to the door. "Where are you going to play?" she then asked.

"Here, maybe I'll try it on the grass!" Eliza answered before she gasped and continued.

"Go ahead," Martha said. And with that she stood on the steps, watching her granddaughter roll the hoop down the walkway to the pool with the dogs chasing after her. She smiled as Eliza moved to the grass but frowned as it eventually looked like the little girl was tiring out and going slower each time. "What's wrong darling?" she asked as her granddaughter came up to her.

"I'm bored," Eliza said, looking very unhappy.

"Well we could do something else," Martha said, feeling sorry for the girl who was essentially alone with no kids to play with.

"No, can I play with Dani?" Eliza asked.

"I think she's just a little too young for that," Martha said calmly.

"Oh," Eliza said.

"But," Martha said as the little girl looked so disappointed. "Would you like to see her for a little bit?"

"Yes!" Eliza said. "Oh, yes please," she added with a smile.

"Then let's go," Martha replied, reaching down to take her hand.

"Can the doggies come too?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Alright," Martha said before they walked together to the Foster's patio next door.

"Rita, Macca over here!" Eliza called to the dogs so they wouldn't keep going down the beach.

"Martha, Eliza," David said as he opened the door when he spotted them after walking into the kitchen. "How can I help you?"

"Eliza wanted to see Dani," Martha replied.

"I wanted to play but she's small," the little girl said. "Can I see her?"

"Of course, hold on," David said before he went over to the family room. "Come on Dani, someone's here to see you."

"Mama?" the baby asked.

"No, your friend," David said with a smile as he reached the sliding door.

"Izzy!" Dani cried out while her father was putting her coat on her then.

"Hi Dani," Eliza said. When the baby was standing in front of her she hugged her gently and said, "Did you have a nap?"

"She will soon," David replied, he and Martha watching the two. "As soon as Rebecca gets back here. Until then would you like to play with her here?"

"Yeah, thanks," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly.

"Would you like to come in?" David asked Martha.

"That's alright, I'll stay out here with them," she replied.

"Then I'll join you out here," David said. "I was only watching her now."

"Nothing to do with the city Mayor Foster?" Martha asked as they went to the bench at the side of the yard to watch the girls as they were sitting in the middle of the yard.

"No, I think I have a day off today," David said. "Which is nice." After a moment he then said, "Have you heard from Rick and Kate?"

"Not about their case," Martha said. "What about you?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"No but Brad will call me at the end of the day, fill me in about what they have so far," David replied. "Hopefully they'll have something."

"Hopefully," Martha agreed.

"Look at the acorn," Eliza was saying to the baby then. "Did you see any squirrels?"

Dani babbled a little bit before she said, "Doggie."

"Did your doggies chase them?" Eliza asked. When the baby smiled at her she took that as a yes and said, "Mine do that too. Do you know what my sister did at school?"

"I'm afraid to tell Eliza she may need to wait a little more before discussing things with her," Martha said to David as they were listening to the girls.

"I think she knows," he said to that. "But it looks like she'll still try."

"That's a good thing," a voice said then as they walked over from the house. Rebecca smiled as they all looked at her and said, "I could hear you, are you having fun?"

"Mama!" Dani cried out happily before she tried to stand.

Helping her Eliza walked with her to the woman who was standing at the bench and she said, "We were playing with acorns, they were a little village."

"How nice," Rebecca replied, picking Dani up to place her on her hip. "What did they do?"

"It was the Olympic village," Eliza explained. "Daddy told me about it."

"He's been talking to her about Tokyo next year," Martha explained. "And of course, she's excited for it because they've been there."

"Did you see them working on what's new there?" David asked Eliza.

With a nod Eliza said, "When we were going out of there Daddy showed us the cranes and said they were finishing."

"Are you going to watch them?" Rebecca asked.

"I know Richard will make sure they do," Martha replied. "Especially the Equestrian events."

Before anyone else could say anything, Dani started to yell before she began to cry and Rebecca and David said a quick goodbye to the two before they hurried into the house with their daughter.

"How come she cried?" Eliza asked her grandmother as they walked back to their home.

"I believe Dani was trying to tell her parents she was tired," Martha replied.

"Oh… but why didn't she just say? That's bad manners," Eliza commented.

Martha; trying to fight a smile but failing completely; said, "She's still very young Eliza, she couldn't quite say so she cried to let them know."

"Is that what babies do?" the little girl asked. When her grandmother nodded she asked, "Did I cry like that?"

"Yes, babies will do that," Martha said, opening the door for her to go inside. "Now what would you like to do since we're back home?"

"Go outside," Eliza said. She smiled widely when Martha looked startled and said, "Aprils fools."

"You might be a little late with that kiddo," Castle's mother said with a smile. "Try in April okay?"

"Kay, can we play the hippos game?" Eliza then asked.

"Go get it for us," Martha said, tickling her neck.

With a cry of joy Eliza ran to the family room and she said when Martha appeared behind her she said, "Think Jules is gonna have fun too?"

"That depends on what she plays with Mari and her friends," Martha replied. "Come on, get the game and we'll try and get a few games in before I teach you how to play Solitaire."

Nodding in excitement Eliza went to the cabinet and found the game, taking it back to the coffee table and wondering if her sister was going to have as much fun as she was as she and Martha began to play.


	21. Only The Shell On The Ground (Part 2)

"Really? When can you ride her?" Dawn was asking.

"Probably not for a long time," Julia replied. "She's gonna have a pony remember?"

"Oh yeah, too bad," Dawn replied. She then looked at Peter who was with them and said, "You saw her didn't you?"

"Yeah but I didn't get too close," Peter replied.

"How come?" Dawn asked.

"He's nervous around horses but that's okay, a lot of people are," Julia said with a smile. "But he thought she was cute too."

"A pretty horse," Peter said with a nod. "Now tell them about your sister's mom."

Julia tried not to sigh at having to tell that story yet again but then told them though she'd managed to tell it to Mari during recess. "But I don't think we're gonna see her again… not until the dinner," she said when she had finished.

"That's a good thing," Mari replied.

"Yeah, so what do you want to do when we finish?" Julia asked the others.

"We should practice," Peter commented.

"Oh no just you two," Mari was quick to say.

"Well… we should practice the Foxtrot," Julia told her partner. "We're having trouble with the spin before we do the walk."

"Walk?" Dawn asked.

"You'll see," Peter told her. "But we should just do that once."

"Yeah, we can go to the playground," Mari suggested.

"That's for babies," Peter protested. "I'll get us a red ball and we can bounce it around or… something."

"No, basketball," Dawn said.

The others agreed to that and they went back to their meal before Dawn was looking at Julia. She was trying to be surreptitious but the girl was able to notice and she was soon speaking.

"What is it?" Julia said.

"How come your parents always get a case?" Dawn asked.

"Not always," Julia protested. "If you mean that they were there that doesn't always happen either. It just did this time. We should go play before lunch is over," she then said as she saw they'd finished their food. She threw away her lunch before they took back their trays and then headed up to the field where they could practice without anyone bothering them. They grouped together, her friends blocking her while she got her phone ready to play. As soon as it was ready she handed her phone to Mari and she and Peter waited to get into hold, checking for any proctors before they turned to each other at the same time.

"Should we do the steps up to the spin?" Peter asked her.

"Maybe," Julia replied. "It would be easier." She got into hold with him and nodded to her friend before the music played, softly, and they began to move, spinning around together before he let go of her and she let him spin her before they linked arms.

"Argh!" Peter groaned as he tripped.

"Maybe it's 'cause you're on the grass," Dawn suggested.

"Put away my phone; put it away!" Julia whispered to Mari.

"Hey kids," the proctor said as she walked up to them.

"Hello Ms. Welch," the four said all together.

"You're practicing again?" the proctor asked as she smiled at Julia and Peter.

"Yeah, we have a competition coming up," Peter said first.

"Alright, don't forget to listen for the bell," the proctor replied.

"We won't," Julia said. When the woman had left she breathed out and said, "That was close."

"The music's still playing," Mari said, suddenly bursting out into laughter.

"What?" Peter and Julia said before they and Dawn went over to see that it was in fact doing so.

"Maybe we should stop using the phone," Dawn suggested.

"Yeah and we can't really practice in the grass either," Julia said. "So basketball now?"

"We should but do you think we'll get a ball? They're probably all gone by now," Peter said.

"Let's go see," Mari told them before they went over to the playground where they saw the cart.

"I knew it," Peter said. "Nothing but a baseball."

"I think it's a softball but that's okay, we can still play with it," Dawn said to them as she reached into the cart.

"Should we try and find a bat?" Julia asked them.

"Nah, let's just play toss," Peter replied. "But I wish we had mitts."

"Let's play before recess is over," Mari said before they went back to the grass.

Walking to the field they stopped near the trees in a circle and began to toss the softball around randomly as they were talking to each other.

"What do you think we're gonna do when we get back to class?" Peter asked.

"It's history," Dawn said. "Didn't you read the board?"

"Yeah but I forgot about it already, I was hungry," Peter replied. He looked at Mari and asked, "What about you?"

"Math," the little girl replied. "We already did our history."

"Are you excited for your Revolutionary Day?" Julia asked her.

"Sorta, I asked my teacher if I really have to wear a dress but she said I could be a soldier," Mari answered. "But I'll see if I can be a colonial."

"I would be that, I was that," Julia said with a smile remembering the year before.

"Hey Julia?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah?" she asked, throwing the ball to Peter.

"Are you still writing?" Dawn said.

"She wrote something yesterday when she came over to my house," Mari said, smiling at her friend.

"It wasn't much," Julia said, her cheeks red. "I don't think I can really write this stuff; I don't know about it."

"Why don't you just ask your parents?" Peter asked.

"They're busy with their books… and their cases too," Julia replied. "But maybe I should." She was about to catch the ball that Dawn was throwing to her when she felt her phone shake in her pocket. She almost got hit by the distraction but just managed to get out of the way. "Sorry," she told the others. "I think my mom texted me." She went hurriedly to the trees so she would have some cover and she read her message.

Hearing the groan of frustration coming from her friend as she neared her Mari asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, when I texted her at recess I asked if I could help for their case but she said I'm too young," Julia said with a sigh.

"Does that mean you could help them one day when you're older?" Dawn asked as she and Peter had gone over to them in time to hear that.

"I wish… probably not," Julia said with a sigh.

"Maybe you could do what your dad did," Mari suggested. "Follow them around to write your books."

"Yeah," Julia said slowly. "I just wonder if my parents would let me though."

"When you grow up," Dawn said.

Smiling Julia said, "Let me text her back and then we can play again." She hurriedly did so typing out, ' _Too bad but just let me know what the case is like_.' But she hesitated before she then added, ' _Can I consult like Daddy did later? If I write books about crimes I have to know_.'

"What?" Peter asked in surprise as his partner looked a little flustered.

Julia hesitated at first before she said, "I asked if I could consult like my dad did, I don't-" She cut herself off when she then felt her phone shake again and smiled at her friends as they gathered around her before she read what her mother had said.

"Bad?" Mari asked, not sure what her friend's expression meant.

"She said we'll talk about it at home," Julia said, frowning. She sighed and then said, "I guess I have to see what she says." She put away her phone and then said to the others, "Let's go back before we lose the rest of lunch."

"Wait," Dawn said before they could do that. "Something I wanted to ask you."

"Okay," Julia said since she'd been talking to her.

"Did you ever read your parents' books?" Dawn asked.

"Did you?" Peter and Mari said at almost the same time when Julia glanced around them.

Motioning them to her Julia whispered, "I looked at their first one; _End of the Line_ ; but I only read the prologue and the first chapter before my mom was looking for me."

"She didn't know?" Mari asked.

"No… I guess I learned to act when I went to my gram's classes," Julia told them with a smile. "But it was good, really good, even though Moor and Green don't like each other there yet."

"Did you read their new book?" Mari then said.

"Yeah, the same thing though just the prologue and first chapter 'cause I only had a couple minutes," Julia answered as she nodded her head. "And that one was good too; I know that one is about the costume party they went to. But they're together there."

"So they were all kissy?" Peter asked.

Julia smiled and said, "A little bit but not a lot, it was mostly about them getting ready for the house they had to go to for their case."

"I wish I could see," Dawn said. "Or read."

"I guess we gotta grow up for that too," Peter commented. "Come on."

They went back into their circle but ended up staying close together, throwing the softball around.

"Did you see what time it was?" Mari asked her friend.

"Yeah, we have twenty minutes," Julia replied, throwing her the ball. "Hey," she said to Dawn and Peter. "Are you guys nervous about camp next year. Sorry."

Mari shook her head at the apology; since she wasn't going to be going until the spring of 2021 herself; and said, "You guys have to tell me what you do."

"I'm not nervous," Peter said first. "I've been to camp before and it's fun."

"The same one we're going to?" Dawn asked.

"No but it's probably close," Peter said.

"You mean the same?" Julia said in confusion.

"Close to being the same?" Peter suggested before they all started to laugh. "But there's archery which I thought was fun."

"Yeah, I can't wait," Julia said.

"How come?" Dawn asked her.

Thinking about that for a moment Julia then said, "I guess 'cause it makes me feel close to my mom and dad. But I haven't been using a real one too much, mostly the toy one but hopefully I can get my own set now."

"I was using a real one for the first time in the summer," Peter said. He smiled and then said, "I wasn't very good at it the first time, I shot into the poufy wall behind the targets."

"Poufy?" Dawn asked laughingly.

"It was soft to catch the arrows," Peter replied. He laughed and said, "There was a lot of them when we all finished."

"I wonder if they'll have horseback riding," Julia then said musingly.

"Probably, they did at my other camp but they didn't make me do it," Peter told them. "I hope they don't this time."

"I think that would be fun," Dawn said.

"It would," Julia assured them. "And the horses wouldn't be that wild you know," she directed to her partner. "You would be okay."

"Or you should let Julia help you," Mari pointed out.

"I would," the girl said when her partner looked at her. "Anything so you won't be scared of horses."

"Maybe you should ride with Julia's mom," Dawn told him. "She's good at it."

"That's okay," Peter said. "But you get to do other stuff. Hopefully we get to canoe."

Glancing at Mari at the way their friend so obviously changed the subject Julia said, "I did that before."

"When?" Dawn asked.

"Last month in the Adirondacks," Julia said, having to say the last word slowly. "We went in canoes and I helped row. That's a lot of fun."

At that moment Dawn was just catching the ball when the bell rang and they had to race to get the ball back before they rushed to their classes.

Staying behind with Mari after her classmates had said goodbye to the fifth grader Julia said, "I wish you were in the same grade as me."

"I know, I'm gonna miss you here when you guys go," Mari commented.

"It's not for a while, but will you watch out for Lizzy for me while I'm gone? It's just for recess," Julia said quickly.

With a smile Mari nodded and said, "Yep, we'll play together."

"Thanks!" Julia said as they had reached Mari's classroom. "I'll see you at dance," she told her before they embraced quickly and went over to her own classroom. As her teacher began their history lesson she did her best to pay attention but her mind couldn't stop going over what her mother had texted her. She wanted to look at her phone again but knew it would be impossible to in class. So instead she listened to the lesson, trying not to think of her parents and how their case was going that second.

* * *

"I'm starting to think you suggested the Brazilian place to come here after," Beckett said.

"We can't take a walk in the park?" Castle asked as they were doing so holding hands.

"We can," Beckett said slowly as they hadn't been contacted by Brad yet. "But I don't know if you're sweet for being so eager or perverted."

"I wouldn't apply to the definition of the latter," Castle replied.

"Don't be so cocky," Beckett said, rolling her eyes. She was going to say more when she felt him stop and following his lead said, "Not even going to try to hide it?"

"Do I need to?" Castle asked her.

Beckett pretended to think that over before she smirked and then leaned over, kissing him gently before he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Hold on," she said, quickly stopping him. She took his hand and went to where there were some trees clustered close together when she felt her phone shaking as the chirping of birds sounded. "It's Julia," she said, able to guess considering the time.

"She should be playing," Castle commented before he looked at his watch. "Yeah, what's she doing texting you?"

"She probably just got my message," Beckett replied. She smiled as she read the message that Julia had sent to her and showed it to her husband.

"Ah… I shouldn't be surprised by that," Castle said. "She knows our story so maybe she thinks she can do the same."

"I think she knows you'll allow it," Beckett said wryly, looking at him.

"Well… if she's an adult," Castle began.

"That depends on Brad," Beckett reminded him. "And that's if Brad's still the chief."

"He will be," Castle said firmly. When she looked at him he just shrugged and said, "If Julia's serious she might start in college… or high school like I did." He then looked at her closely and said, "Would you stop her?"

Looking at him right in the eyes Beckett said firmly, "No." She wasn't surprised when he looked slightly startled and then continued saying, "But I wouldn't like it, I didn't want our children to get involved with homicide investigations."

"I think it's just her personality love," Castle said, squeezing her hand gently. "She likes the idea. And we're not sure about Eliza yet. How do you know she wouldn't want to hear about our cases but not want to be involved?"

"She wants to write Rick," Beckett replied.

"I know," Castle said with a nod. "But she might want to write fiction or historical fiction, not crime."

Breathing out slightly Beckett said, "Alright I just hope it won't become something that takes over her life."

"She'll still want to dance," Castle said, as he knew exactly why she wanted their oldest to since it would give her a life they hadn't had when they'd been investigating together in the city.

Reaching up to her husband Beckett brought him down slightly so she could kiss him, holding onto him tightly before he responded to her eagerly. She slipped her tongue into his mouth but they only lightly caressed each other before very slowly parting. Pressing her forehead against his she said, "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Castle replied. He then smiled and said, "I'm glad to help out though I should tell you I've had the same thought myself."

"I had a feeling," Beckett said with a smile.

Castle was about to speak again then when suddenly she was kissing him once more. He recovered quickly and responded to her as rapidly as he could, holding her tightly to him. In the back of his mind he wondered why there wasn't anyone else in the park but he decided not to care about it, focusing fully on his wife.

When she began to sense that they were getting a little out of control Beckett carefully pulled away from her husband and said, "We should go back, whether or not Brad needs us."

Opening his mouth to speak Castle then heard the text alert sound from her phone and with a smile he looked at her saying, "I think now he does."

"He does," Beckett replied.

"Nothing else?" Castle asked as she was reading the message she'd gotten.

"No, that's it," Beckett replied. "Come on," she said, reaching for his hand before they walked back together to the station and then went to the chief's office. When he saw them, she waited for him to speak but was surprised when he frowned instead.

"Nothing?" Castle asked in surprise.

"We do but it's a matter of… digging," Brad said as he stood up. He motioned to the two towards the second board that was in the office then. "We looked at the games and Greenspan was right; the scheduling was completely random and all three women were there."

"So then it becomes looking into them themselves," Beckett commented, studying the pictures of the three women.

"They were all playing at the tournament as we know, different teams," Brad told them. "And because it's random that's why I don't get it."

"Neither do we," Castle said. "We were talking about that after lunch."

"Do you have what you need about the women?" Beckett then asked.

"Enough," Brad replied. "Robles lives here in the Hamptons, Whyte Southampton and Kato is in East Setauket."

"And you haven't tried to contact them?" Castle asked in surprise.

"Unfortunately, the polo fields where they were going to play gave me the run around so it took me a long time to be able to get the information about the tournament," Brad said. "Everyone else is busy since there was a shift change not too long ago. Okay let's start with Robles since she's closest."

"Maybe you should try furthest to closest," Castle suggested. "That way if you need to go to Setauket you won't need to go far."

With a nod Brad then picked up the phone on his desk, dialing the number of the woman. "Ms. Robles," he then said when she'd picked up. "My name is Brad Davis and I'm the chief of police in the Hamptons."

"How can I help you?" the woman asked, her voice obviously cautious.

"It's my understanding that you were a guest at a party hosted by the Callands this past Saturday," Brad said. Before she could protest that or say anything he continued with, "What we're more concerned about is the woman you were with before she was thrown out of the house."

"Emmy?" Robles asked.

"Lighter skinned African American woman, about five seven with shoulder length hair?" Brad said to make sure.

"Yes, what about her," Robles replied sounding a little suspicious.

"Her real name is Eileen McGale and I'm afraid to tell you that she was murdered yesterday," Brad said.

"Oh my god," Robles said after a pause in replying to the chief. "She was… she was just with us…" she ended in a whisper.

"I'm wondering what exactly she talked to you about that night?" Brad asked.

"She was… we didn't really talk she seemed to just want to be with us at first," Robles replied. "And then she started talking to us about our games."

Looking at his wife Castle was surprised when she didn't seem to be before he glanced back at the phone as Robles was continuing.

"She wanted us not to play, she said we were too beautiful to risk getting hurt," the woman said. "But we told her we were all experienced riders and we knew what not to do."

"And after?" Brad asked when the woman didn't continue.

"We were focused on something else," Robles said, sounding embarrassed. "She tried to talk to us again but then the Callands came in… they run the party."

"We're aware of them," Brad told her quickly.

"They discovered us together which we weren't supposed to be and she tried to get the three of us- oh, I was with-" Robles started to say.

"We're aware of who was with you," Brad replied. "Continue, please."

"Well Emmy… I mean Eileen you said her name was, was telling us we should stop allowing them to shove us in the closet when they reached us," Robles said. "And then they took her out and that was the last we saw her."

"After she was gone?" Brad asked.

"We… left together because we knew the Callands were going to make sure we separated," Robles side. "We went to Mai's house, she lived around the Callands, and we finished our night there."

"And is there any chance of being able to verify that?" Brad said.

"Mai's home has security cameras," Robles replied. "It's gated."

"Alright, thank you," Brad said. "I may need to speak to you again so please stay in town." After the woman said she would he hung up and looked at the two saying, "It's casual."

"It is," Beckett replied as she knew they would be wondering what she thought. "But you didn't mention anything about the games."

"We talked about that already," Brad said. When she just looked at him he sighed and said, "Hold on, I forgot to ask her about that," picking up and dialing the phone again. "Ms. Robles this is Chief Davis again and I forgot to ask you if Eileen mentioned any reason why you shouldn't play besides you three being beautiful."

"I just remembered that Amy mentioned her telling her something about someone wanting to hurt her," Robles replied. "But why I don't know, she just talked to her about that."

"Thank you again Ms. Robles," Brad said before she hung up.

"Whyte is next," Castle commented.

"I'm hoping she has something more tangible," Brad replied before he dialed the number he had for the woman. He set it to speakerphone as he had done before and they all waited for Whyte to answer before the voicemail picked up. "Better try her house," he commented before hanging up and dialing the other number the woman had with her information.

When that call ended up going to the woman's answering machine Castle said, "Maybe you should have someone check on her."

As Brad went to call out to Kirby, Beckett said to her husband, "You think she had some kind of connection with them before the house."

"I think so, she might have some connection with Whyte since she spoke to her specifically," Castle replied after thinking about that.

"I'll call Kato now," Brad said once he was back inside. "Can you two start looking for a connection?"

"We were just talking about that," Castle commented with a smile as he followed his wife then. When he and Becket were at their desk he said, "The one thing that's really confusing me about this is how does this connect with what Eileen was searching for? Because obviously that's what she's been doing."

"Make a note of it," Beckett replied before she then looked at the screen of her computer.

Castle wasn't surprised that she was so distracted and got the pad of paper kept in the top drawer before he wrote down everything they knew about the vic 'searching.' But as he continued he was frowning, not even realizing it until his wife was looking at him and calling his name. "What?" he asked.

"What's wrong you're frowning at that paper," Beckett replied. "Almost as if you're trying to set it on fire."

"I hope not," Castle said before he handed it over to her.

"I can see why you have some issues," Beckett replied with a brief smile as it was obvious why her husband was so frustrated. Nothing he'd noted was really connecting and when she saw her name on the bottom she asked, "Really?"

" _She was with three women_ ," Castle replied, speaking in Irish at that point. " _I guessed_."

" _I know but it doesn't quite work_ ," Beckett told him seriously. " _Nothing works_ ," she finished with a sigh. She was about to tell him that she hadn't found anything herself before they turned together at the sound of Brad nearly running from his office.

"Kirby just called me," Brad told the two as they followed him. "There was a broken window in the front and he wants backup as he can't get any visuals inside the house; blinds are covering them all."

Without a word Castle and Beckett went to their car and they drove after the chief to Kato's home in Southampton where they found Kirby on the corner, waiting for them.

"Nothing suspicious around here Chief; or the backyard which is about the only thing I could clear," the officer replied.

"We're-" Brad started to say before they heard a shot. "Call that in, we might need EMTs, Beckett."

"Behind you," Beckett said.

"I'll call that in," Castle said before motioning to Kirby to follow the two. He immediately went into Brad's squad car and he radioed in what had happened, Wade agreeing to send out an ambulance. With that done he stood up and walked up to the house, trying not to run as he knew his wife and friend weren't going to appreciate him running inside to any possible gunfire though there hadn't been anymore since the first. He was close to the start of the pathway when he heard another bullet and he was then running to literally burst through the gaping open front doorway.

When they'd reached the front door, Brad hadn't bothered to knock and instead kicked it down once he was sure Beckett was covering him. They stepped inside cautiously yelling together, "Police, Hamptons Police!"

Hearing a groan Beckett turned to her right before Brad did so and they walked together before she realized that Kirby was behind her. She tried to listen for anything but the house was silent besides them trying to walk through it. They came to the kitchen and she drew in a breath before she and Brad were ducking a shot from a figure that had been standing over a body.

"Beckett, stay with her," Brad said before he and Kirby were racing after the shooter who had managed to make their way to the backyard.

"Ms. Whyte," Beckett said as she knelt next to the woman. "We're the police, help is coming."

"Kate," Castle said as he came up to his wife and saw she was trying to press a dishtowel onto the chest of who he knew was Amy Whyte on the floor.

"Stay with her Castle," Beckett said. She waited for him to take over and she jumped up, withdrawing her gun again before she ran out to the backyard. But she could see quickly that Brad and Kirby weren't there so she sped up before climbing up on the fence.

"No, don't," Brad said, seeing her appearing. "He was in a car, black Mercedes and we couldn't get very far after him. What about Whyte?"

"Castle's with her, hopefully she's alright," Beckett said before she let herself fall to the yard and she ran up to the house, slipping inside. "How is she?" she asked her husband when she reached him.

"She's losing a lot of blood," Castle said in concern.

Beckett got back up from kneeling next to him and grabbed a blanket that was over the back of the couch, helping him switch the towel for it. "I'll check on the ambulance-" she started to say before Whyte was hanging onto her wrist tightly. She and Castle both looked down at the woman and watched her whispering to them before she fell unconscious.

"They're here," Brad said as he led the EMTs to the kitchen.

Once he could stand up Castle went with Beckett over to Brad and he told him first, "She said a name before she passed out."

"Which was?" Brad asked.

"It's on her phone," Beckett replied, going over to it. "She said 'Phone, Anthony'."

"Does that count as permission?" Castle asked his friend.

"Yes," Brad replied. "She wanted us to look to find him quicker. Look and I'll radio in to Hutchinson to get ready to start looking into him there once we have a last name."

Since she was already wearing gloves Beckett picked up the phone and opened it, relieved it wasn't locked. She went to Whyte's contact list and she assumed she was going to have to go to the end of the list when she paused.

"What?" Castle asked, watching her and seeing the expression on her face.

"There's only one Anthony. And Anthony Wentworth is her boyfriend," Beckett said, looking at her husband and Brad who were soon looking at her in shock.


	22. You Won't See Me

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: I was very happy getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so let me get to my thank yous for that! Guest (Glad to see that you thought the chapter was fantastic with Eliza and Martha spending time alone together. And I'm pleased to see you loved the foamy moments that were grandmother-granddaughter as you put it though have never heard the word used to describe a sweet moment but it's an intersting word. And I mean that in a positive way of course, I liked reading that in your review. And great you thought it was sweet too! It was nice to see that you think I'm a talented writer! I was surprised to see you enjoy my author notes as well but with that I'll go ahead and space it just one space in between so hopefully that'll work out and be easier for you to read as you suggested. Glad you think it's a sweet series! And of course you're welcome!),

MsNYC (I wasn't surprised to see that you thought the Theo and Eileen situation at the sex party was wrong since of course she was married at that time. And I wasn't surprised that you think it's more serious than she thought; with the motive for her death since things lean to that. And great that you thought Eliza was so cute and loving with the moments with her in the first half. I loved seeing that you think Julia reminds you of Castle with a Beckett twist as I did want to show that growing up with the two she picked up a little from them both. I had to laugh at what you mentioned about knowing Castle was going to run into the house without worrying about his safety. Also, not surprised you're wondering if she might say something about that, she might. I was so, so glad you thought it was great writing as usual! And not surprised at all to see that you've got your fingers crossed still for a third Caskett baby, I do know you're hoping for that!)

TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought it was a good moment for Eliza. And nice to read that you were still amazed that Castle and Beckett haven't lost their touch with cases. I never really thought they would so wanted to convey that. Glad you thought it was good writing too!) and

vetgirlmx (I wasn't surprised at all that you knew one of the women was going to get hurt, or that you thought she would be dead though you are right, she's not out of the woods yet. I also figured you'd agree with them being right that the case is getting weirder. And yeah, nothing's making sense yet of course but they do have a lot of names so I wasn't surprised you think they have to be close to solving it. Great to read that you loved Julia's response to not getting an update on the case. And it was nice to see you mentioning loving her friends encouraging her. And yeah Castle did follow Beckett around for a long time so you're right there's no way they can say no to Julia though of course it's not an appealing idea to them as you said. So happy to see that you think the story is intriguing. And of course, I'm pleased you can't wait to see what's really happening which you don't need to do anymore!).  
Thanks so much for the reviews, I enjoyed reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and sent them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is the title of a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, from The Beatles album _Rubber Soul_.

You Won't See Me

"Checking out his records," Brad said as he walked up to Castle and Beckett in the waiting room. "He has a DUI and an attempted robbery charge."

"Does that robbery have to do with the DUI?" Beckett asked.

Brad tapped his nose as he was reading a file at that same moment and he said, "But there's nothing really that details any connection to anyone we have in the case so far besides Whyte."

"And you obviously don't suspect him," Castle commented. When his friend looked at him he said, "You let him come here."

"I think he's trying to put him at ease," Beckett said. "Let him see his girlfriend and check on her before beginning to question him. It's what I would do."

"True," Castle said, smiling at her.

"I'll be back," Brad replied, seeing the doctor he knew was treating Whyte.

"What're you thinking?" Castle asked his wife as she sat down on of the chairs they were standing in front of.

"First off you shouldn't have run into the house," Beckett said, looking at him pointedly.

"No but I couldn't just let you go without knowing you were alright," Castle said. "And I didn't run right in; I called it in."

"Of course you did," Beckett said with a slight smile. "Just… wait next time for backup at least if we have it coming to us."

"I'll try," Castle said as honestly as he could. "What're you thinking about the case?"

"The boyfriend," Beckett said. "He was covered from head to toe so if it was him I don't think the three of us could ID him."

Castle nodded before he then said, "Could you tell how tall he was?"

"About five ten so it could be Wentworth," Beckett said. She sighed and then said, "But he was at work so I'm not sure what the killer was thinking trying to set him up."

"Deflecting of course," Castle said. "Though you're right," he said quickly when his wife looked at him. "It was a weak plan. But Whyte survived so…"

"Distraction," Castle and Beckett said at the same time.

"I get the feeling this is going to be a longer day," Beckett said as they looked at each other.

"It might not be," Brad said as he walked up to them. "I just got word from Hutchinson. He had a motorcycle that's the exact same model as the one Fletcher saw."

"Had?" Castle asked.

"Had, it was stolen three months ago," Brad said. "So, a month before the vic began all of her searching."

"Why didn't this come up sooner?" Beckett then asked.

"Because it was stolen in East Setauket," Brad replied. "We weren't searching there."

"That's enough time to change the color," Castle said.

"It was all black," Brad replied as he knew what his friend wasn't asking. "And you're right, that is enough time. Hutchinson got a picture of the bike so she'll contact Fletcher and see if that could be the one even with the different paint scheme. Yes Rick?" he asked seeing his friend was raising his hand.

"What does Wentworth have to do with the vic? Obviously there's a reason for him being framed but I have never heard of him from Eileen."

"He's right, we never have," Beckett commented when the chief looked at her. "But you're forgetting Rick that he might deal with the killer; and just the killer."

"First, we need to speak to Wentworth," Brad told them. "Okay, the doctor will tell me how Whyte's doing," he said when he spotted the man again. "Stay here and we'll talk to Wentworth when he gets out from seeing Whyte."

Remaining seated Castle and Beckett watched as the chief was talking to the doctor before they noticed a man coming out from emergency.

Standing up Beckett walked over to him and said, "Mr. Wentworth?"

"Yes?" the man asked hesitatingly.

"I'm Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle and we're consultants with the Hamptons PD," she told him. "We need to speak to you concerning what happened to your girlfriend."

"Yeah… sure," Wentworth replied.

Castle squeezed his wife's arm, wondering why she wasn't waiting for Brad, but when she merely shrugged him off he guessed she seemed to know already the chief would be okay with her doing that. He didn't do or say anything else, merely sitting next to his wife as they were across from the man.

"Can you tell us if there has been anything wrong with Amy, was she acting out of the ordinary within the last couple of months?" Beckett said.

"No, she was fine… though she did tell me that a woman had spoken to her at the…" Wentworth started to say before he abruptly closed his mouth and leaned away from them.

"We're aware of the sex party," Beckett replied. "And we're not charging her with anything because of that or anything else. We needed to talk to her specifically about that actually."

"Please tell us what she told you," Castle urged him.

Breathing out hard Wentworth said, "She said that she had been with her girlfriends Mai and Mona there."

"How would you classify their relationship?" Brad asked, standing next to them then.

"They had a casual thing going on," Wentworth said. "I let her do that because it made her happy."

"And you had no objection to her sleeping with two women?" Castle said in slight disbelief.

"I have a boyfriend on the side," Wentworth replied.

"What's his name?" Brad asked as he took his notepad out of his pocket.

"Ed Muller," Wentworth replied.

"Did you know the two women your girlfriend was with?" Brad asked.

"Not that well," Wentworth said. "We had a dinner at her house with them and that's when I met them."

"Did she know Mr. Muller?" Castle asked.

"He introduced me to her, they're old college friends," Wentworth explained. "And she didn't care I was seeing him, she doesn't. We have a very open relationship."

"Okay," Brad replied. "Then please keep going about what she told you concerning that party."

"She said this woman, Emmy, joined them and they were about to start when she leaned over to Amy and said she needed to be careful of any drugs," Wentworth replied.

"Drugs," Beckett stated.

"Yeah, I have no idea what she meant and neither did Amy," Wentworth told them. "Neither of us have ever done drugs."

"What does she do for a living?" Brad then asked.

"She's a pharmacist," Wentworth answered quickly. "But there hasn't been anything with her work."

"Does she work here?" Beckett asked. A nod from the man and she said, "The hospital has been reporting workers in the pharmacy appearing at work with meth on them."

"Not Amy," Wentworth said quickly.

"No but what about those that were reported to have that? Did she know them?" Beckett asked.

"Yes, they were her co-workers," Wentworth replied. "But she had no idea they'd had that on them."

"Can you tell us where you were yesterday between eleven and twelve?" Brad asked the man.

"I was with Amy, we were over at the Lake Polo Fields to get ready for her tournament," Wentworth replied. "We were checking on the horses and… everything else."

"Do you know this woman?" Brad then asked, showing a picture of the vic before she had cut her hair.

"I… no," Wentworth said after studying the picture. "But she'd fit the way Amy said Emmy looked the other night. Is this her?" When Castle slightly inclined his head he said, "I'm sorry."

"I heard from the doctor that Ms. Whyte will recover but she needs to remain here as she lost a lot of blood," Brad said. "Are you planning to help her convalesce?"

"Of course, I'm all she has… well besides Mona and Mai," Wentworth said. "I should call them and let them know what happened."

Brad nodded and let the man know that he could go before he looked at Castle and Beckett saying, "Meth again."

"It could be another feint," Castle commented.

"I'm thinking that myself," Brad replied. "For now, we should head back to the station and start by looking into those co-workers of hers."

"You don't need us?" Castle asked.

"This is going to take police; if they have lawyers now then we'll be lucky if they speak to us," Brad explained.

"Okay call us if you get anything," Castle told him.

When Brad nodded and left them Beckett turned to her husband and said, "Where are we going?"

"Home," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when she looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes and he said, "I asked Brad if we could do that very quickly before we went home for the day and he said sure. He just said to make sure that you know that we do have to go back and it won't be that long of a break."

Beckett smiled, as she could tell that he was uncertain of what her response would be so she told him, "You don't need to worry. I just hope Eliza won't mind."

"I doubt it," Castle said. "Since we don't do this too often, we just need to make sure we tell her we have to go back."

Though she wanted to comment on that Beckett knew they were wasting time so she took her husband's hand and they hurried out to their car. "I'm hoping," she said once he was driving them home. "He gets something."

"Do you really think there's some kind of drug angle?" Castle asked her, knowing they were going to spend the ride home talking about the case.

"I don't know, there was meth residue on her clothes remember," Beckett said.

"But she was clean," Castle said quickly.

"I'm not saying she's involved with the drugs," Beckett replied. "More like something with her 'search' is involving meth."

"The girl," Castle commented.

"That had crossed my mind," Beckett said with a nod. "And I told Brad that."

"When?" Castle asked as he looked at her in surprise.

"I texted him just now," Beckett said. "My phone's on silent."

"What'd he say to that?" Castle asked as he knew the chief had replied.

"He doesn't remember meth connected to Jones," Beckett replied. "But he'll take a further look into her."

Castle nodded as he pulled up to their home, opening the gate before he said, "Should we surprise her?"

"No need," Beckett said as the front door opened shortly after they began to make their way down the driveway.

"I'm surprised she wasn't outside," Castle said, turning around at the tree to face back towards the gate. "I forgot this would tell her," he commented after turning off the car.

"Mommy!" Eliza cried out as her mother stepped out of the car first.

"Hey sweetie," Beckett said with a smile as she took her youngest into her arms. "We surprised you?"

"Yeah but you have to go back?" Eliza said as she looked at the car.

"We do but hopefully not for very long," Castle said to get her attention. "I'm happy to see you too sweetheart," he told her as the little girl was embracing him tightly. "How's she been Mother?" he asked as Martha walked up to them.

"Just wonderful," she replied with a smile as Eliza looked at her. "We were just now playing solitaire."

"Gram is teaching me," the little girl said with a smile up at her parents.

"That's good but we should get you inside since it's cold and you don't have your coat on," Beckett said, ushering her to the porch.

"What about Jules?" Eliza asked as they were walking.

"She's still in school," Beckett said, glancing at her watch quickly. "But she'll see us later don't worry."

"What can we do?" Eliza said when they were in the foyer and the door was closed behind them.

"I think we can play a little with-" Beckett started to say.

"I might have a better idea," Castle interrupted. He smiled when Eliza looked at him interestedly and he explained to her, "I got the idea of using leaves to make art; we didn't get to it this year yet."

"Oh! Can we?" Eliza asked as she then turned to her mother.

"Yes," Beckett said with a smile. "I guess so but really Rick what can we do besides leaf rubbings?"

"I researched it," Castle said immediately. "Come on we need to hurry or else we won't get to do a thing," he told her.

Beckett watched her husband; once they were in the family room; get some pieces of paper on the coffee table before he grabbed her hand.

"We'll be right back," Castle called to Eliza and Martha before they were out the door.

"They left," Eliza told her grandmother.

"I think they're getting the leaves you'll be using," Martha replied with a smile.

"Oh," Eliza said before she hurried over to the window to look out to see if her parents were in fact doing that.

"Rick take it easy," Beckett said as they seemed to fly down the steps to the grass.

"I know but we don't have much time," Castle explained. "Help me?"

"Thank you for asking and not demanding," Beckett said, kissing his cheek before she went over to the dwarf oak tree they had.

"As if I could demand you to do anything," Castle replied.

"Not really eloquent," Beckett commented, having pulled down several leaves already. She let Castle go to two more trees before she had him stop so they could go back in the house. "We got your leaves sweetie," she said, not surprised to see the little girl at the door.

"What are we gonna do?" Eliza said eagerly when she saw all the leaves they had.

"I'll show you," Castle promised before they went straight to the family room. When he saw what was on the coffee table he said, "How did you know?"

"A guess," Martha said since he was talking to her.

"Okay so we'll start preparing wreaths for the front door," Castle said to Beckett and Eliza.

"Just leaves?" Beckett asked.

"No but we can't really get them," Castle commented.

"I need to?" Eliza said in surprise.

"You and your sister," Castle corrected. "Pick up some pine cones and your mom and I will get the rest."

"What kinds?" Eliza asked.

"Smaller ones," Castle said. "We want the leaves to be the star."

Eliza giggled before she said, "Are they gonna last forever?"

"We found a solution that'll preserve them; I wondered why you were ordering that bottle," Beckett said, directing the last to her husband.

"Now you know," Castle said with a smile as they finished taking off their coats.

"Okay, are we spraying them or just choosing?" Beckett asked him.

"Choosing, we need to do the spraying outside," Castle replied. "I only wish I'd thought of this before."

"Kiddo, what are you doing?" Martha was asking Eliza then.

"Picking the leaves," the little girl said simply. "Before you have to go Mommy, Daddy."

"We're coming to help right now," Beckett assured her before she sat down next to her. She pressed a kiss to her temple and asked, "What did you pick so far?"

Sitting on the other side of her Castle watched her point to each leaf she'd chosen and explained in detail why she'd picked them. "I think you made good choices so far," he told her with a smile.

Eliza giggled as her father kissed her other temple and then said, "You too."

With a shared laugh Castle and Beckett focused their attention to the leaves with their youngest, discussing what would be best for the wreaths until Martha spoke to get their attention.

"I wonder why you two don't do this more often," Castle's mother said.

"This time it worked out," Castle said. "The information that needed to be looked into we couldn't really help with."

"Why?" Eliza asked, having been listening.

"Because it means we'd need to talk to lawyers," Beckett explained when her husband glanced at her. "And since we're not with the police they wouldn't talk to us."

"Oh," Eliza said. She then frowned and said, "Do you want to be the police again?"

"No," Beckett said simply. "Look at this one," she said to distract her. "What do you think?"

"That's a pretty one," Eliza said with a nod. "Daddy did you see?"

"I did," Castle assured her with a smile. "Okay I think we have enough for the wreaths now."

"But we have more leaves," Eliza pointed out.

"We do but we'll use those for the arts and crafts when your sister is home," Castle replied.

"And you," Eliza told them.

"And us," Beckett said. "Let's take them and put them outside okay?"

"Kay," Eliza said, taking the leaves that her mother handed her and following her to set them on the patio to coat with the spray her parents had later.

"Well?" Martha asked her son once they were alone.

Castle quickly explained what they had of the case so far and he ended with, "The meth part of it was kind of sudden since the residue on Eileen's clothes was minimal."

"But it sounds like there's a reason it was there… where was it found?" Martha asked.

"In the pocket of her jeans she wore," Castle replied.

"Hmm, she disguised herself to look like a man," Martha said thoughtfully. "And she found that hidden room on the men's side."

"It might have passed through the family," Castle said. "She's related to the Thornes."

"There is that," Martha said. She heard the door to the back opening and said quickly to her son, "I can take them out for dinner if it comes to that for you two."

"It won't be that bad, you know Brad would send us back," Castle said simply before Beckett and Eliza walked inside.

"I want to do something now! You don't have to go yet," the little girl said, bounding over to her father and hugging him around the neck.

"No but what do you want to do?" Beckett said as she sat down next to her husband.

Eliza looked around the room before she paused and then said, "Dunno."

"Alright," Castle said. "What about playing with the dogs?"

"Kay," Eliza said happily.

Standing up Castle grabbed the dogs' toys before they went out into the hallway and then he began to throw Macca's while Beckett and Eliza held Rita.

"Mommy, Daddy," the little girl said eventually.

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked.

"Tell me a story," Eliza said. She smiled when her parents looked at her and she said, "I want to hear one now."

"Since we tell Julia a lot of them?" Castle asked, throwing Rita's toy.

"Yeah," Eliza replied.

"We can tell you one," Beckett replied. "But which one?"

Eliza was going to answer when she stopped and then blushed slightly before looking at the floor.

"One about you?" Castle guessed.

"When I was a baby," Eliza said with a nod, relieved that her father had said that.

"Okay, we were thinking about your first autumn earlier," Castle told her.

"Where Mommy took pictures of me with the leaves?" Eliza asked with a smile as they'd told her that story already. When her father nodded she asked, "Are you gonna tell me that again?"

"No, now I'm remembering your first winter," Castle replied.

"The first time we took her out to the snow?" Beckett asked.

"And the first time it snowed that winter," Castle answered. He then turned his attention to their youngest and said, "It took a while to snow so I thought we weren't going to get to have a white Christmas but luckily it did, the same day we were decorating the tree."

"What did I do?" Eliza asked with a smile.

"You were only eight months old," Beckett said. "And you were a little more aware of things but still very little."

"Did I go outside?" Eliza said.

"You did," Beckett said, smiling at her husband as she let him continue the story.

* * *

 _"For this not being any taller than twelve feet I think it still turned out well," Castle commented after he and his wife had gotten their tree set._

 _"You're lucky this house has such high ceilings," Beckett told him with a smile as she brushed off her hands. She then looked over at their daughters and she said, "Is Eliza doing okay?"_

 _"I think she wants to see the tree," Julia replied as the baby in her arms was holding out her arms towards it._

 _"You can bring her over here," Castle told her. He was slightly surprised when Julia came to him and said, "Are you tired?"_

 _"No, you're taller," Julia explained simply._

 _"Okay," Castle said, taking Eliza from her and kissing her cheek. As the baby made a soft cooing noise he then said, "I can't hold you for too much longer; I need to help your mom get the lights on." He then helped her hold onto some of the pine needles of the tree before he looked deeper inside it._

 _"What are you doing?" Beckett asked her husband as she was watching him._

 _Not answering Castle pulled out a small twig from the tree and held it in front of the baby. "No, you can't eat it," he quickly said with a smile as she was trying to grab it. "Just hold onto it."_

 _Julia sniffed deeply as her sister's tiny hand crushed the needles and she said, "It smells stronger."_

 _"That's because the scent is in the needles," Beckett said with a smile._

 _"Should we break more?" Julia asked. "I like the smell."_

 _"I think that one was enough," Beckett said. "And we're going to set out some branches around the house. Rick?"_

 _"Back you go," Castle said to Eliza as he handed her down to Julia. He tried to take the sprig of pine away from her but when the baby whimpered he said to Julia, "You're going to have to watch her and make sure she doesn't eat that."_

 _"Don't worry," Beckett said to the little girl as she looked a little unsure. "Once we start taking out the ornaments she'll lose interest in it."_

 _Sitting on the coffee table as she had been before Julia bounced her little sister on her lap and smiled as the baby giggled heavily before she kissed her cheek._

 _"Rick, come on," Beckett said with a smile as she had to gently pull on the string of lights that he was holding for her. "Are you going to take care of the star next?"_

 _"Sure," Castle replied. "You know we didn't have to get a tree this tall."_

 _"Oh, now you tell me that after we bought it," Beckett told him teasingly. She was a little startled when the slack on the lights stopped and looking back at her husband was soon pulled up against him._

 _"You had to expect it," Castle said teasingly when she glared at him slightly. Before she could say anything he kissed her, using one hand to press on the small of her back and keep her close. Since he couldn't pull her right up against him he took what he could with the kiss though it didn't last for long and when they parted he said, "She's behind me isn't she?"_

 _"You stayed behind the tree for a long time," Julia explained, smiling as her parents looked at her and Eliza._

 _"She got tired of the piece of tree already?" Castle asked as he turned to look at them._

 _"She dropped it but I don't think she knows," Julia explained as her sister's hand was empty. "What're you doing?"_

 _"You didn't see?" Beckett asked, unable to help smiling._

 _"I think she got you love," Castle said as their oldest was then smiling. "We better get back to the lights though."_

 _When she was sitting down on the table again Julia watched her parents quickly go around the tree before she realized she was getting dizzy. Closing her eyes and shaking her head she was startled when a hand suddenly smacked her chin._

 _Hearing Julia say ow as she and Castle finished with the lights Beckett looked over at them and said, "Did your sister hit you?"_

 _"Yeah, I got dizzy and she hit me," Julia said. She pretended to give Eliza a frown but was laughing as her little sister patted her right on the lips._

 _"She might be trying to figure out what you're doing," Castle said as he grabbed the star. He got up on a ladder and set it in place before making sure that a light was in it. "Now it's time for the ornaments," he said once he was down on the floor._

 _Hearing squealing Beckett looked over with her husband at their daughters and saw that Julia was bouncing Eliza slightly. "Not too much," she told the little girl._

 _"Does that mean she's gonna like horsies?" Julia asked as she stood up with her sister on her hip._

 _"Probably," Beckett said as Castle looked at her interestedly._

 _"Now we can show her all the ornaments, right?" Castle asked his wife._

 _"We can, we-" Beckett started to say._

 _"We should!" Julia exclaimed. "She hasn't seen them before so she should know what they look like."_

 _"Alright," Beckett said with a smile as her husband and their oldest were looking at her so expectantly. "But don't let her grab them okay?"_

 _Julia nodded rapidly before her parents went to get the first box and she then said to her sister, "The ornaments are really nice, you're gonna like them. But they're not for eating."_

 _"You still need to watch her," Castle said, watching with a smile as Eliza turned her head and then babbled a little._

 _"I will," Julia replied. "But what about the ornaments, I want to put them up too."_

 _"We'll take turns," Beckett assured her. "Remember this one?" she asked her daughter._

 _"Yeah," Julia said eagerly when she saw it. She pointed it out to her little sister and said, "It's a snowman made of marshmallows and it's snowboarding like Mommy does."_

 _"Mo… ah," Eliza said as she tried to reach out for the ornament._

 _"Can't touch sweetie," Beckett said, holding her hands before leaning down and pressing her lips against her forehead. She went to hang the ornament before going back to Julia and holding her arms out for the baby._

 _"That's it?" Castle asked, having been watching her._

 _"That's it," Beckett said with a smile as she took Eliza. She sat on the table as Julia had been doing and watched the little girl hurry to get an ornament._

 _"See? This is a peacock and that's a pretty birdie," Julia told her sister who was watching her with wide eyes as she'd hurried back to her._

 _"Hang it Julia," Beckett urged her daughter as she held Eliza's hands before she could grab the bird ornament. "Rick you're not showing the ornaments you're hanging up," she told her husband teasingly._

 _"I am," Castle protested with a smile back at her. When he took the next one out of the box he said, "This one is probably your sister's favorite."_

 _"Which one?" Julia asked quickly. "There are two of us."_

 _"Alexis," Castle said, showing the glass ball with swirls of paint around it that his daughter had bought in London after she had graduated from high school._

 _"She's alright with you hanging that?" Beckett asked in surprise._

 _"She said she just wants to hang up the ornaments in her box," Castle replied as they had a box separate from the others._

 _"Did you ask her about this one specifically?" Beckett asked her husband._

 _"I did," Castle said. "She knows how much Julia likes it."_

 _"I think Lizzy does too," the little girl commented, standing with them and watching her sister._

 _"Oh, I wasn't expecting that look," Castle said with a smile as Eliza was staring at the ornament. He gently swayed it and when his wife sharply said his name he smiled at her and said, "Sorry, I wanted to see if she would follow it."_

 _"And she did," Beckett told him. "Hang it please."_

 _"Do you want me to take her?" Castle asked as he came back to her._

 _"Maybe later," Beckett said._

 _"Mommy, Daddy it's snowing!" Julia gasped in joy as she had glanced outside and saw the fat, white flakes._

 _Getting up to go with Castle after their oldest Beckett saw that she was right and with a smile said, "You got your wish."_

 _"What wish?" Julia asked her father as she saw that her mother was talking to him._

 _"I was hoping we'd have a white Christmas," Castle told her, ruffling her hair._

 _"Can we go outside?" Julia asked. She then gasped and said, "Can Lizzy go outside?"_

 _Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband started to open his mouth before he closed it and looked at her. With a smile she said, "Yes but we can't keep her out there for too long."_

 _"Can we make a snowman and that's it?" Julia said hopefully._

 _"For Eliza, yes but I think you can stay outside longer sweetheart," Castle told her._

 _When the little girl looked hesitant Beckett pointed out to her, "Your sister won't know she has to go in and you can stay out. Wait until she's older for that."_

 _"She won't care?" Julia asked._

 _"No," Castle assured her. When the little girl crowed in joy and then rushed to get her coat he and Beckett followed her. It took a little longer to get Eliza bundled into her snowsuit but they were soon meeting Julia at the door out to the back._

 _"She looks like an Eskimo… like the one that's on the plane," Julia said, touching the faux fur around the hood of her sister's blue suit._

 _"And that's what we want her to look like," Castle said. "Ready?" When the little girl nodded he opened the door and said, "The snow knew we were bringing her out."_

 _Glancing at him; as he'd directed that to her; Beckett watched as Julia ran into the light snow that was already covering the ground. "I don't think we'll be able to make that big of a snowman," she commented to her husband before she turned to look at Eliza._

 _"She's fine," Castle said with a smile. "I think she's trying to figure out what exactly this is."_

 _"As long as she's not crying," Beckett said before leaning over to rub her nose against the baby's._

 _"Mommy, teach Lizzy to eat the snowflakes!" Julia said as she hurried back to them._

 _"That won't really work sweetie," Beckett said with a smile. "Just let her get used to the idea of snow."_

 _"Kay," Julia replied before she hurried over to her sister. "Do you see the snow Lizzy?"_

 _When the baby merely looked around Castle said, "I think she's taking her time, go and play Julia."_

 _"I wanted to make the snowman," the little girl told him._

 _"I'll help you," Beckett said. They went to where the snow was the thickest and she said, "I don't think you'll be able to make it that big."_

 _"I know, I heard you tell Daddy," Julia said with a smile. "I don't care, I just wanna make it."_

 _"Then let's get started with the bottom," Beckett told her. Together they began to push snow together until they had a fairly good-sized ball of snow. After making the middle she stacked it and looked over at her husband as he approached them._

 _"She wanted to see what you're doing," Castle replied._

 _With a smile Beckett said, "How's she doing?"_

 _"Good, she's moving around and I've been blocking her from the wind," Castle said._

 _"As soon as we finish-" Beckett started to say._

 _"I'll take her inside," Castle said. When his wife and their oldest stopped and looked at him he said with a smile, "I can watch her."_

 _"Would you stay here and play with me Mommy?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _"Yes," Beckett said, smiling at them both. "Hurry let's get the head set so your sister can go back inside."_

 _Nodding Julia packed the snow into a snowball and said, "There," placing it on top of the body._

 _"That one came out nice," Castle commented with a smile. "We'll be waiting for you inside," he said with a smile before he leaned over to kiss his wife. He reached over and squeezed Julia's shoulder and went inside with the baby._


	23. You Won't See Me (Part 2)

_"Now what would you like to do?" Beckett asked her daughter after she'd taken a picture of the little girl next to the snowman._

 _"We can't sled…" Julia began._

 _"No," Beckett replied. "Sorry but there's not enough snow for that."_

 _"Then let's walk on the beach," Julia said._

 _"Alright, just to the gate where the street is," Beckett told her, not surprised when her daughter nodded rapidly in agreement. She reached out and took Julia's hand, walking with her down the beach in the falling snow. She looked at her daughter, smiling as she was reaching up to try and catch the snowflakes falling._

 _"I think I like winter best," Julia commented._

 _"I thought you loved fall," Beckett said teasingly._

 _Looking at her mother Julia giggled and then said, "I like winter when it_ is _winter."_

 _"Oh, I see," Beckett replied with a smile. She squeezed her daughter's hand before they turned around and she said, "I think the same thing too."_

 _"Good," Julia said before smiling. They had to turn around then and she asked, "What do you think Daddy and Lizzy are doing now?"_

 _"I'm not sure," Beckett said honestly. "I know he stayed at the door for a while to watch us but maybe he's showing her the rest of the ornaments so we can hang them faster." She wasn't really surprised to hear her daughter gasp and she asked, "Did you forget about the tree."_

 _"I did," Julia admitted. "But it'll snow again right?"_

 _"It should," Beckett said before they turned to walk up to the house. "So let's focus on the tree for now."_

 _"This one your mom and I got in Ireland," Castle was saying to Eliza, showing her the last of the ornaments. "This one is a Brigid's Cross and I insisted we get it." He smiled when the baby made a sound and tried to reach out for the cross made of twigs before he kissed her forehead. "Since we are Irish and we should have it."_

 _"And that's why we have one over the window next to the front door," a voice said from the doorway to the room._

 _"I thought I heard the door open," Castle said, smiling at his wife and daughter. "How was it out there?"_

 _"Nice, we went on a little walk 'cause there wasn't enough snow to do anything else," Julia explained before she went up to him._

 _"So that was fun?" Castle asked as he handed her the ornament._

 _"Yeah," Julia said exuberantly. She went to hang it up and when she turned to her parents she smiled as Beckett had sat next to Castle and they were kissing. She picked up another ornament while they were parting and once she'd turned around from hanging that she asked them, "What can we do after the tree?"_

 _"You're thinking ahead already?" Beckett asked as she went to get a blanket._

 _"Yeah, the tree is almost finished," Julia said. She then paused and said, "You were right Mommy."_

 _"Right about what?" Castle asked._

 _"I guessed that you'd be showing her the rest of the ornaments," Beckett said as her husband set down their youngest on the blanket she'd laid out._

 _"I figured we could go a little quicker," Castle replied with a shrug. "I do need to make dinner after all."_

 _"We do," Beckett corrected him. When her husband looked at her she said, "We."_

 _"Of course," Castle replied. He handed Eliza her plush lion toy and said, "Don't move."_

 _"Rick," Beckett sighed though she was smiling as he would say that to the baby though she obviously couldn't understand._

 _"Okay, I'm ready to help," Castle said, jumping up quickly and going over to help them with the rest of the tree._

 _While they were decorating it Castle, Beckett and Julia were keeping an eye on Eliza who was watching them with wide eyes as she chewed on her toy. As soon as they were finished they played a little with the baby before Castle and Beckett led their daughters to the kitchen so the two could watch them as they made dinner._

 _"Can I feed Lizzy her dinner?" Julia asked, hugging her sister gently._

 _"I think so," Beckett said, smiling over at her. "Is she not staying still?" she asked her daughter as she walked over to the two._

 _"No, I was wondering 'cause we're gonna eat," Julia replied._

 _"Why don't you go ahead and feed her now?" Beckett asked._

 _"I need your help a little still Kate," Castle said to her._

 _"Can I show her the snow?" Julia said quickly before her mother turned away._

 _Beckett didn't reply to that, instead she helped her down from the chair by taking Eliza from her. She had to get a lock of her hair out of the baby's grasp before she could hand her back to Julia. "Do not go outside," she told her firmly._

 _"I won't," the little girl said, slightly exasperated._

 _Beckett watched them for a while, peering out the windows past the kitchen table, before she shook herself and went over to her husband. "What do you need me to do?" she asked him after washing her hands quickly._

 _"Just the salad," Castle replied, pulling out the large turkey pot pie from the oven. "This just needs to rest."_

 _For a moment Beckett thought he wanted her to work on the salad all on her own when he came over to her. Together they cut up the vegetables and she let him toss the salad in dressing before she then said, "Girls, it's almost time to eat. Time for you to eat Eliza."_

 _"I get to feed you," Julia told her little sister excitedly. She took her over to the high chair and nearly asked her mother to let her put her sister in. But she quickly noticed she was too short so she eventually handed her over to Beckett._

 _Nuzzling her daughter's nose tenderly Beckett said, "Don't make too much of a mess for your sister."_

 _"She won't," Julia said with a smile as her sister babbled and then turned to her._

 _"Can you get her food?" Beckett asked the little girl._

 _"Which one?" Julia asked._

 _"Carrots and peas," Beckett replied. "The same thing we'll have in our dinner."_

 _Nodding Julia hurried to where she knew her sister's jars of food were before she grabbed the ones her mother had asked for._

 _"Sweetie," Beckett called then._

 _"Yeah?" Julia asked, knowing her mother wanted her to get something else._

 _"Grab some peaches for her dessert," Beckett told her._

 _"Can you carry those?" Castle asked, pouring some wine for himself and Beckett as he watched her._

 _"Yep," Julia said, being careful to walk back to the table with the jars in her arms. Once she had given them to her mother she waited excitedly as she opened the peas and carrots for her._

 _"Do you need me to help you?" Beckett asked as she handed her Eliza's little spoon._

 _"No, I can do it by myself," Julia said, trying to sound grown up._

 _"Alright, I'll help your daddy set the table okay?" Beckett asked._

 _"Kay," Julia said, nodding her head. She then took a little of the carrots and though their mother was there to hear her she told her sister, "I know these are your favorites so I'm gonna let you have them first."_

 _"Kate?" Castle asked, handing her some forks._

 _Turning her attention to the table Beckett kept an eye on Julia as she was feeing Eliza, making sure that the little girl wasn't having a problem. But soon the baby was finished so she went over to gently wipe off Eliza's mouth of the peas that were left on her lips._

 _"Did I do a good job?" Julia asked anxiously._

 _"You did, she looks to be very happy which must mean she's full," Castle commented as he brought over the turkey pot pie last._

 _"Ooh, is that our dinner?" Julia asked eagerly as she looked at it in the middle of the end of the table where they sat together._

 _"It is, like my artistry with the pie?" Castle asked with a smile as he'd cut out three leaf shapes in the center of the crust. When the little girl nodded he leaned down and kissed her cheek before he then took her over to the sink to help her wash her hands._

 _As soon as Beckett had washed her hands she joined Castle and Julia at the table with Eliza and they watched as he cut the pie and dished out the pieces._

 _"You like it?" Beckett asked Julia as the little girl was making sounds of enjoyment after her first few bites._

 _"Yeah, it's good Daddy," Julia said, directing the last to her father._

 _"Good I'll definitely have to make it again," Castle replied._

 _The family ate then while Eliza was playing with her plastic ring of keys before Beckett began feeding her the peaches baby food. When they had all finished Julia helped her parents clear the table before she was given her sister to allow them to clean up without worrying too much about the baby._

 _Going into the family room with her Julia set her little sister down on the blanket that was still in front of the tree and she said, "Do you wanna crawl?"_

 _Eliza merely looked up at her sister who was helping her sit up and giggled before trying to reach up to her._

 _"I guess not," Julia said. "And you had your bath already," she said, remembering how her parents had given it to her earlier after lunch. She then played for a while with her sister, using her plastic keys to make her laugh. After a while she realized that she couldn't hear the two talking in the kitchen so she asked Eliza, "Wanna see them?" When the baby merely looked at her she leaned down, kissing her cheek before she picked her up and just barely peeked out into the hall to look down at the kitchen._

 _After drying the last plate Castle turned to his wife and said, "What should we do with them?"_

 _"You should read that book you bought the other day for them both," Beckett told him with a smile._

 _"Under the tree?" Castle asked. When his wife nodded he reached over to her and then brought her to him with a tug on her hand. Wrapping his arms around her he murmured, "You're a romantic."_

 _"No more than you are," Beckett replied as she knew she couldn't really deny it. When he pulled her even closer she wrapped her arms around him tighter before they began to kiss. She wasn't surprised when he started out slowly, carefully, until they were then deepening it at the same time. Clutching at her husband she found that he was doing the same to her and she knew they had to stop as their daughters were alone. But when his tongue came to curl around hers she couldn't do it as she responded to him._

 _Castle finally moved away from his wife, both panting at their efforts, and he said, "The girls are quiet."_

 _Looking over to her left Beckett couldn't help smiling and said, "That's because they're watching us."_

 _"Well, Julia is," Castle said. He laughed with his wife as their oldest was making Eliza wave and they let go of each other to go over to her. "How was she?"_

 _"We were watching you right now," Julia explained. "But the tree isn't shining yet."_

 _"We'll fix that right now," Castle told her, going around the tree._

 _"Look!" Julia said as soon as the lights were on, pointing them out to her sister._

 _Glancing down at Eliza; who was in her arms then; as the baby was wriggling and cooing Beckett leaned down, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I think she enjoys that," she said as Castle walked back to them._

 _"She does," he replied, kissing their youngest then. "So," he said before he was brushing his lips against his wife's. "Your mom had the idea of me reading a story for you guys under the tree."_

 _"Why aren't you looking at me?" Julia asked._

 _"She's right, it's a little rude Rick," Beckett said teasingly to him and smiling as he glared at her briefly._

 _"I like that idea Daddy," Julia said then._

 _"Are you sure?" Castle asked as he let Eliza hold onto his index finger._

 _"Yeah, I wanna stay with the tree," Julia assured him._

 _"We should get started," Beckett told her husband with a smile._

 _"Okay, here we go," Castle said as he went to the cabinet where he'd stored the book to read for the girls one night. He quickly spread out a bigger blanket for them and once they were sitting down he waited for Julia to press against his right side while Beckett was to his left with Eliza on her lap. With them ready he opened the book and began to read the story as Julia leaned over to see the pictures._

 _Listening to her husband reading to their daughters, Beckett leaned her head against his shoulder before they watched the two. She felt a sense of things being right in that moment, there with the girls in front of their tree and warm together as the snow continue to fall outside their home._

* * *

"I wish I remembered that," Eliza said, taking Macca's toy from him.

"That's what you have us for," Castle said. "To tell you all about it."

"Does Jules remember?" Eliza asked them.

"She does, I took pictures after we finished the book of you two in front of the tree," Beckett began. "And then you with your daddy and one picture of the four of us."

Before anyone could say anything after that Beckett's phone began to ring and Eliza sighed saying, "I wish you could stay."

"We'll do our best to come back earlier," Beckett told her before answering the phone and putting it on speaker. "Brad?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just got word that the Calland's home was broken into," the chief said on the other end, his voice rushed and clipped.

"When?" Castle said in surprise as he shared a look with his wife.

"While they were talking to us," Brad replied. "We're going to leave for East Setauket but I want with you us, ride behind us."

"We'll be there," Castle said first.

After she hung up Beckett picked up Eliza and hugged her tightly saying, "We love you sweetie and we had a fun time right now with you."

"Me too, thank you for coming home," Eliza said, embracing her back just as tightly. After she'd shared a kiss with her mother she was handed to her father and she hugged him too saying, "Be careful."

"We will and like your mom said we had fun," Castle told her. He shared a kiss with her and said, "We'll come home right away the second we can."

"Yay," Eliza said before she kissed her parents one more time before they set her down.

"We'll let you know when we can get home Mother," Castle said as she'd stepped out during their conversation with Brad.

"We'll be fine, go," Martha told them as she took Eliza's hand. She walked after the two as her son and daughter in law raced out of the house. They watched the car leave and she looked down at her granddaughter. "Are you okay darling?" gently running her hand over the back of her head.

"Yeah," Eliza said. "I know they have to go. Now can I keep playing with the dogs?"

"You can," Martha said with a smile, motioning her inside before she closed the door.

"Do you think the killer was there at the Callands?" Castle was asking as his wife was almost speeding to the station.

"It would seem like it," Beckett replied. "But it makes me a little uneasy."

"Me too," Castle said as by then they'd already searched the names on the guest list of the party.

They were reaching the station then, finding Brad was already in the other driveway into the parking lot. Beckett turned around in a U-turn, not surprised to hear her husband grunting as he hit the side of the car from the force. "Do you expect trouble?" she called once they were next to the chief.

"No, I just want Hutchinson with us to speak to the Callands," Brad said. "We've got an hour drive, stick close." And with that he turned on his lights before pulling out, soon seeing the car close behind him.

The drive was quiet for most of the way before Castle said, "What are we going to do?"

"I would imagine that we're going to look around, if they had any type of security system inside the house then we'd have to look at that," Beckett replied.

"Do you think they'd get in trouble for that?" Castle asked.

"Unless every guest signed a waiver saying they were okay with it then yes," Beckett said. She sighed and told him, "But I get the feeling it isn't that."

"We never asked who called it in," Castle told her as he knew what she was thinking with that.

"True, they could have hired help at the home that would have been there," Beckett replied.

"And the East Setauket PD are going to let us help," Castle stated.

"Yes," Beckett said. "He wouldn't be taking us with him if we weren't welcome." They were quiet again and she said with a smile, "It was fun."

"I know, there's a part of me that wishes we could do it more often but she's going to be moving on to first grade really soon," Castle pointed out. "We can still try until then."

Beckett smiled and said, "Of course." They were then reaching the city and were making their way through neighborhoods until they were among large homes. "I begin to see now why they could fit so many people inside for that party."

"I just realized, I was joking about us going but we're ending up here anyway," Castle commented to his wife.

"And yet we're not having sex here so it doesn't really work out," Beckett said to him before she was parking against the curb behind Brad. They stepped out and she looked at the home they were in front of.

"The PD is already inside," the chief told the three with him. "They're questioning the butler that's here during the day."

"Does that mean the hired help has no idea about the parties?" Castle asked him.

"No so hold off on mentioning that before we see if they know about it now," Brad said.

"The Callands?" Beckett then asked as they were making their way over to the house.

"As far as I know from what I was told they're here," Brad said.

"Hopefully being questioned," Castle said. "What?" he said as the others looked at him. "You don't think they couldn't have set it up to look like a break in before they left?"

"I don't think so but we can consider that," Brad replied before they started walking again.

"Chief Davis?" a woman said in front of the steps to the house.

"Captain Marcus?" Brad said. When she nodded he extended his hand and they shook before he said, "Any idea of a time window when this could have happened?"

"The butler was here in the front of the house with them," Marcus replied. "As your officers were given the Callands to escort to the Hamptons. Two minutes later he said he heard the alarm sounding for someone coming over the wall and shortly after the front door was kicked open."

"Then nothing was taken," Beckett stated.

"Their security camera footage… possibly," Marcus answered. "It deals with your case so I'll take you over there now." She led them into the house and then down into the basement, going through a few rooms until they came to what looked to be a closet in the back where she stopped and waited for them to catch up before she paused for the chief to speak again.

"Was anything taken?" Brad asked. "Or were they unsuccessful?"

"Unsuccessful," the captain replied. "They were interrupted by the police."

"How long did it take the police to get here?" Castle asked in surprise.

"Two minutes; there was a patrol in the area," Marcus replied. "He spotted a figure running out of the gate while he was looking at the front door." She then pointed over to a window near them and said, "They escaped through there."

"Does that open on the side?" Brad asked as he and Beckett went to the window before looking down.

"CSU is going to take a copy of that print," Marcus said when she saw the two had seen the shoe print on there.

"We'll need a copy ourselves," Brad replied. "What about in here?" he asked, going back to the room with the TVs inside of it.

"They were trying to take out information," an officer said, pointing to a USB stick that was still attached to a computer tower.

"Have you checked it out yet?" Castle asked.

"No, we're waiting for someone from tech to arrive," Marcus replied.

"Captain? He's here," an officer called from the stairs down to the basement.

"Esmonde?" Marcus said as a shorter, grey haired man walked down the hall to them.

"Captain," the man replied with a nod.

"We need to see if they took anything from the computer here, especially what's on the USB stick, if anything," Marcus told him.

"That won't take very long," Esmonde replied, putting on some gloves. "If you'll just bear with me…"

As they stepped away from the room to leave the man to work Castle watched as Brad led Marcus away and he looked at his wife. " _What do you think_?" he asked in a low voice.

" _What he wants to talk to her about_?" Beckett said. When her husband nodded she said, " _Likely about charges concerning the party_."

At first Castle was confused before he said, " _You think this might be unrelated to the case_."

" _Yes and no_ ," Beckett told him. When he looked at her in bewilderment she pulled him a little further down the hall and murmured in English to him, "If someone from the party; unrelated to the case; got wind that we talked to the Callands then they might not want their attendance to get out. They thought taking out their image from the footage would do that. Or it was the killer and we'd be able to see him."

"I don't know why I didn't think of that," Castle said after he'd thought that over. "I guess we're just hopeful this moves the case along."

"I know," Beckett replied, glancing down the hall then to see where Brad was. "Well?" she asked.

"They're trying to see what they can do to shut down the parties," the chief replied. "But it might take some… finagling since there's not a law against it and it's a private home."

"The Callands aren't saying anything to them?" Castle asked him.

"As far as I can tell no," Brad replied. "But then again you know they want to keep this quiet."

"It makes sense," Castle said with a nod. He then murmured what his wife had told him, nodding to her when he'd finished.

"Good idea," Brad said.

"He said we've been focused on moving the case forward," Beckett said quickly as she knew what he was going say next. "Which is understandable."

"Captain?" they heard Esmonde calling from the room. When everyone was gathered at the doorway the tech said, "They were trying to grab some footage from the porch, from Saturday night at around… seven."

"Did they manage to?" Brad asked.

"No, they were obviously interrupted since the file was floating around in the computer," Esmonde replied.

"Can we have that file e-mailed to us?" Brad asked Marcus.

"Alright," the captain said, nodding to Esmonde.

After it had been e-mailed to Brad's computer at the station the three were escorted upstairs. He stopped the captain and said, "I'd like to speak to the Callands if possible."

"Alright," Marcus replied before she started to walk in the direction of the kitchen where she knew the homeowners were. Just as they were approaching the doorway she was stopped by a man and she said, "I'm Captain-"

"I know who you are," the man replied. "And I'm Boston Andre, Mr. and Mrs. Calland's attorney."

"We just need to speak to them-" Brad began.

"They've spoken all they care to with the police. Thank you for your assistance with the robbery," Andre replied.

"I had been hoping it would be a while before the lawyer got here," Marcus said once they were in the foyer.

"Me too," Brad said. "You'll notify me once you've finished with the crime scene?" When the captain nodded he shook her hand and said, "The Hamptons thanks you for your assistance."

"You're welcome," Marcus said. "If you find anything pertaining to the robbery…"

"You'll get a call from me," Brad said with a nod before they left the house. "I didn't want to watch here," he told Castle and Beckett as they met Hutchinson on the driveway and she walked with them, having been unable to speak to anyone in the end and just talking with CSU when she could though she told them she hadn't discovered anything. "I feel better looking at it back at the station," he then said.

"So do we," Beckett said. "But we lost an hour."

"We gained footage at least," Castle said.

"And another hour on the road," Beckett said.

"Don't be so pessimistic," Brad told her. "Let's get back and we'll see what we have."

Beckett nodded and they went to their cars, heading back to the Hamptons as fast as they possibly could before afternoon traffic began.

* * *

Handing his wife her mug Castle said, "He had to have seen something."

"Are you sulking about not being allowed to watch the footage?" Beckett asked.

"Sort of," Castle replied.

"Rick," Beckett said firmly. "The room is tiny and he needs tech in there to look at it first. We'll see it, we just need to wait and see what he gets."

Sighing Castle finished his cup of coffee; having made tea for her; and sat with her at the table. He reached for her hand, surprised when she didn't resist, and he held it tightly before squeezing it. "We're not running too late," he commented.

Trying not to smile at his not mentioning the case Beckett said, "No but at this point we're not going to make it to the class."

"We can make it up to her until the next case," Castle said. "I have to wonder why we don't think of the fact that between them we're going to her classes all the time."

Beckett was going to reply to that when she saw that Hutchinson was coming up to them. "The chief is still-" she began.

"I know, I'm going to tell you though since you're here," the officer replied. "Here," she then said as she set down two files in front of them.

Though he wanted to ask what they were supposed to see Castle didn't say anything and instead leaned over to read the papers which were the financials of the vics and Fletcher. "It… there," he said at the same time as he wife as they pointed to a number at the bottom of the file.

"This happened yesterday," Beckett said, looking up at the woman.

"Chief asked me to look," Hutchinson said. "Because you two were looking for possible drug money. But not why I had to look at it all over again."

"It was just desperation," Castle said. "A need for some kind of clue."

"We'll tell the chief about it," Beckett told her. When she left she sighed and said, "I guess drugs are a part of this after all."

"But that still doesn't help us," Castle said. "And that doesn't explain why there's money from Eileen's account into her ex lover's."

"Whose ex-lover?" Brad asked, coming in then.

"You didn't find anything?" Beckett asked with a sigh when she saw he was empty handed.

"Nothing except for the fact the vic was nearly last to the party. And before you ask no one was out of place or in obvious disguise or even hiding themselves. Or else acting weird," Brad replied. "But it does look like you have something."

"Twenty-five hundred going from Eileen's account to Fletcher's," Castle said.

"Twenty…" Brad began before he stepped up to look at the paper. "And it's gone now from Fletcher's account… Alright, I'll bring her back in," he told them before he left.

"What do you think this means?" Castle asked his wife as they waited.

"That we're nowhere near done," Beckett said, setting aside the mug with her husband so they could follow the chief to find Fletcher and bring her in yet again.


	24. Set On You

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: It was great to get the feedback for the last chapter so will get straight to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (It was nice seeing that you loved the bit with Eliza and snow too. And of course, I wasn't surprised that you enjoyed the flashback as much as you did, I had a feeling you would! Seeing your reaction to the very end of the chapter I wasn't surprised to see you think that Fletcher has to know something. And I was so happy that you thought Julia being a big sister to infant Eliza was really sweet since I had fun writing that flashback. I was also pleased to see that you thought it was great writing as usual!),

TORONTOSUN (Great that you thought the first half of the chapter was very good writing. And I was glad that you liked that Eliza is getting interested in a lot of things, I figured she would be of course since it's her age. And of course, I was pleased to see you thought the second half of the chapter was good writing. I wasn't surprised too that you thought that was a good song, it seemed to fit, lol, so also happy you liked it!),

vetgirlmx (I wasn't surprised that you're questioning about it being drug related though you did point out the case is weird. That last one makes me happy 'cause I do want that to be obvious, lol. And interesting you think that if they find out what the victim was doing they'll find out who killed her. And yeah, she was doing a good job hiding all her activities I did want to make sure that she did! I decided to change things up a bit with them going home in the middle of the day, so I wasn't surprised when you said it was unusual. But of course, I am glad that you, and other readers I can tell, enjoyed it a lot. You're right, it's been a while since they've spent time with Eliza on their own. I wasn't surprised you mentioned that it was the first time Eliza asked for one about herself as a baby, something else I wanted to do a bit different plus I figured she would ask that, lol. And I figured that love of stories would run in the family so I did have Eliza loving the story a lot. But of course I was happy that you loved her loving the story so much! And I wasn't surprised you were glad they had family time as you think it looks like they're having a long day, that's a nice way to break it up, lol. Really pleased that you can't wait to find out what happens next and now you don't need to anymore!) and

eileen nesbit 9 (I'm pleased to see that you're enjoying the story and the same for you enjoying the victim's name. I actually like the name myself which was why I used it this time around. And of course, I'm happy that you can't wait to read more and you can do that now!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciated the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Got My Mind Set on You_ written by Rudy Clark, the version I've taken from is sung by George Harrison from his album _Cloud Nine_.

Set On You

"Chief Davis," the bank manager said in relief as they walked up to him. "We're glad you're here we've having some problems with a Ms. Fletcher. She's a customer here at the bank but…"

"Where is she?" Brad asked.

"In my office," the manager replied before heading in that direction to the lead them.

"Chief Davis," Fletcher said when she saw him. "You have to tell him to take the money, I don't want this money."

Not surprised the woman knew they were aware Beckett said, "When did you notice it?"

"I check my account every night and saw it then," Fletcher replied. "I wanted to take it back in the morning but I had to go to work before I could do that and I didn't get out until a while ago."

"Where exactly did the money come from?" Brad asked her.

"It said a check and from Ellie but that can't be, she's dead," Fletcher said, tears in her eyes.

"Is there any way to find the check?" Castle asked the manager.

"Yes, we can find it," the man said.

"And security camera footage," Brad called to him. "Did she ever give you money in the past?"

"No but she didn't; the check isn't from her," Fletcher replied. "It can't be," she said firmly.

"Here Chief," the manager said, coming back in with gloves on and a check in his hands.

Setting it down on the desk; since he was already wearing gloves; Brad peered at the signature before his eyes snagged on the memo. "Look," he told Castle and Beckett.

Studying it then Castle's eyes widened and said, "This isn't from her."

"Ms. Fletcher," Brad said, looking back at the woman. "Do you remember what Ms. McGale's handwriting looked like?"

"Yes," Fletcher nearly whispered. She walked up to the desk and looked at the writing before she shook her head. "That isn't her writing. When she would write my name on the couple of greeting cards she gave me she would sign the r at the end of my last name in cursive."

"I think you'll need to hold the money on the check," Brad told the manager. "And we need you to copy this for us to analyze the handwriting."

When the man had left Fletcher said, "What do I do now?"

"You can go," Davis replied. "But stay at home."

Fletcher nodded before she paused and then said, "I never told you, because I forgot about it until now but my cousin worked at the bookstore way back when Ellie first took ownership of it."

"And you said they got along but did they not at the start?" Brad asked.

"Alright, I never heard of him having any problems there… I just wanted to point out that he knew her for a long time," Fletcher replied. "But he left eventually after six or seven months since he got a job as a mechanic which was what he always wanted to do."

"Did he leave without an issue? And did your cousin have a motorcycle?" Beckett said.

"Ellie was fine with him going; he really wanted to be a mechanic. And he did have a motorcycle, I'd forgotten about it as he hasn't… hadn't ridden it in a while," Fletcher answered, speaking softly at the end.

"Was it like the model you saw outside his house?" Castle asked, knowing what his wife was thinking then.

"I… no not that model," Fletcher replied.

"Was it similar?" Brad then said as he had realized why Beckett had asked.

Fletcher opened her mouth to speak before she closed it and then said, "It could be. But it's still in his garage, he never mentioned to me before that it was stolen."

"Chief," the bank manager said, walking over to him. "Your copy."

"Where will you be putting the money?" Brad asked after nodding in thanks for the paper. "If this was a forgery that's come out of her account."

"We'll call you back to let you know your account is squared away Ms. Fletcher," the manager told her.

Leaving Beckett watched Fletcher leaving and she murmured to the chief, "You should ask her about East Setauket."

As Brad hurried after the woman, calling out to her, Castle said to his wife, "You think that might be a determining factor?"

"No, more desperation again for some kind of clue," Beckett told him, shaking her head. "I don't think she'd have gone; remember the Calland's policy on same sex relations."

"It's still worth a shot though," Castle commented.

"She heard about it," Brad said as he came back to them.

"How?" Castle and Beckett asked at the same time.

"Your friend had gone to it before they started their affair too, years ago," Brad answered as they went all the way over to their cars. "And she only remembered it now because of the last name."

"We never asked the Callands if they'd seen her at the party a while back," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"No but that was some time ago so they probably didn't remember her," Brad said reminded him. "And I honestly don't see what we could really do with that."

"I do," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when the chief groaned and she said, "You could get a warrant for it if the Callands refuse; which you know they would."

"Alright but first we're stopping at Mr. Fletcher's house… after I call in for the warrant," Brad said.

Getting into their car Castle said, "That list will be amazingly long."

"You're amazingly perceptive love," Beckett said with a smile. She then frowned and said, "Why write drugs in the memo of the check though?"

"If it's the killer then… oh wait," Castle said, looking at his wife after he'd stopped at a red light. "Maybe drugs aren't involved and all of this is just a smoke screen."

"I thought of that," Beckett said before they were continuing. "I think Brad did too and since no one we've met has anything to do with drugs…"

"When he gets the lists of all the guests he can weed them out," Castle commented. "First the drug charges and then anyone that might be here in the Hamptons."

"That one should be last," Beckett told him with a slight smile. They were parking at Fletcher's home and she said, "First drug charges, then anyone connected to both Eileen and Jones."

After they'd gotten out of the car Castle said, "What're you thinking about doing when you search?" to the chief.

"Going through the names," Brad replied. "Though I get the feeling you've got a better idea of how I should do that."

Telling him what they'd talked about Castle said, "It's a start."

With a nod Brad said, "Good point. We'll all we have left at the station is the security camera footage from the ATM."

"Was that the drive-thru ATM?" Beckett asked.

"It was," Brad replied. "I'm sure we're not really going to get much from it though. Considering everything this person is doing they're going to be careful."

"You're thinking the drugs are just a feint too?" Castle asked as they were nearing the garage.

"Oh, more than likely," Brad replied. "Who would honestly put that in the memo? If we hadn't been investigating Fletcher and the vic then the bank would have notified us."

"I think what they were hoping was that Fletcher would have noticed and brought it to our attention," Beckett commented.

"They were a little off but we still found out," Brad said.

"Though it did backfire," Castle said.

"To a point," Beckett replied as they were waiting for the chief to open the side door to the garage. "We're sure it's not drugs but we're left hanging a little, aren't we?"

"We are," Brad replied. "That's why we keep going," he told them before stepping out of the way of them to let them go in first.

Reaching for the switch next to the door Beckett said, "No bike."

"I had a feeling," Brad commented. "You two want to search while I call Fletcher?"

"Not a problem," Castle said, pulling on some gloves himself. When they were alone he walked after his wife before she turned and stopped him. "What?" he asked when she placed her hand to his chest.

"Go the other way. The sooner we finish the sooner we can leave," Beckett said.

Castle smiled, at the slight insistence in her voice, before he nodded and walked the other way. He looked around the garage, through the cabinets and on the shelves but only found items that Fletcher would have used in his job. "Anything?" he asked his wife once he'd reached her.

"No, not that I expected there to be," Beckett said simply.

They walked together out of the garage and found that Brad was just hanging up his cell phone before he motioned for them to come over to him.

"She said the last time she saw him with the bike was around three months ago," the chief told them.

"And he never mentioned at the very least letting someone borrow it?" Beckett asked.

"No so I told Hill and Wade to go out to the mechanic shop where he worked, see if they heard anything," Brad told them. "Did you find anything in the garage?"

"A lot of stuff for the mechanic job he has but nothing else," Castle replied.

"Okay then let's head back and check out that footage," Brad said, looking frustrated.

* * *

"I'm going to go insane," the chief said, his voice muffled by the fact his hands were over his face.

"No less than we are," Beckett informed him.

Grumbling Brad said to the tech in the room with him, "Nothing you can do but thanks for getting this for us."

"Sure thing Chief," the woman said, moving so he could get out of the little room.

"Chief," Hill said, walking up to them.

"What've you got?" Brad asked.

"Someone at the shop said Fletcher had lent his motorcycle to a new friend," the officer replied. "He thought that was weird since that bike was Fletcher's baby and he wouldn't really let anyone borrow it."

"But he didn't act like he was forced into it," Castle stated.

"No," Hill said. "But I asked about the color and it was blue, different blues."

"Alright, thank you," Brad said before he walked behind Castle and Beckett to the bull pen.

"Chief," Hutchinson called out.

"We got the lists?" Brad said.

"We did," the officer replied. "I just finished printing them out," she said before handing him the small stack.

"I wonder why we didn't really ask them how long they were having these parties," Castle commented as he glanced at the names though he couldn't read them since Brad was flicking through the pages.

"You need to get that onto a computer," Beckett told him.

"Which will take a long time," Brad said with a sigh.

"Is that your polite way of telling us to get the hell out?" Castle said in amusement.

"No, I'm leaving it up to you," Brad told them. "It'll take time to get all these names transferred and then to start searching them though we'll start already." He looked at his watch then and told them, "It's also almost halfway into Julia's dance class. If you leave now then you can make it in time to see the other half."

"I'm leaving it up to you Kate," Castle told his wife seriously.

"Alright," Beckett said with a sigh.

"I'll call," Brad replied. "And don't sigh, I probably won't get much of anything to be honest so relax tonight and we'll probably be working even more tomorrow."

Going to the chief's office to get their coats Castle and Beckett said goodbye to Brad when he came inside.

"We'll come in as soon as the girls are in school," Castle said.

"Is that coming from you or your wife?" Brad said with a slight smile.

"No, me but I already knew she wanted that," Castle replied.

"Come in at eight thirty," Brad said. "I'd like to beg you to get us some coffee and you some tea Kate."

"We will," Beckett replied. "But we'll come earlier if the need arises."

"Which I know from past cases, get out of here," Brad said though he was doing so laughingly.

Walking out of the station shortly after they'd said goodbye to the chief Castle told his wife, "That worked out well."

"Really," Beckett said with a smile. "Julia will be surprised."

"I know, let's hurry," Castle told her.

Beckett smiled and shook her head as she knew he wanted to surprise their daughter but since she did too she didn't protest and hurried as he'd said so they wouldn't miss any more of their daughter's practice.

* * *

"Argh," Julia complained.

"What?" Mari asked, sitting next to her on the floor.

"My sock tore," Julia sighed, pulling off her shoe. "Right on the toe," she said as she studied it closely.

"Better tell your parents," Peter said before he closed his mouth quickly.

"It's okay, I thought they weren't gonna get to come," Julia said with a sigh. She heard the door to the room open and looked over, gasping when she saw her mother and father. "Mommy, Daddy!" she cried before jumping up and running to them, forgetting she only had one shoe on. "You made it!" she said after she had hugged them both tightly.

"I know we were trying our best to get here," Castle replied. "How's it going besides your toe?"

At first Julia was a little confused but then glanced down at her foot before saying, "Oh, yeah it just tore right now."

"We can go pick you up a pair this weekend," Beckett said.

"What about today?" Julia said in confusion.

"We have different plans," Castle said first.

"What?" Julia asked.

But before either could answer Ms. Grey was calling her students back to the dance floor and Castle and Beckett urged their daughter back though she obviously wanted to know what they were going to do. They went over to the steps where Martha was on her own, sitting with her.

"Eliza?" Castle murmured to his mother as the teacher was speaking.

"She wanted to go over to see Dani," Martha whispered quickly. "I believe she's getting impatient to play with her."

"We're picking her up after dropping off Mari?" Beckett asked. When her mother in law nodded she looked out to the dance floor where Julia was beginning to dance the Quickstep with Peter. She wanted to ask Martha what they'd been doing but she could guess what exactly before the pair stopped for Ms. Grey to tell them what steps to do next. "Are they practicing for the competition?"

"They've worked on the Foxtrot before this," Martha murmured. The dance teacher was taking a little longer to explain something to the students so she asked, "What exactly are these plans and can I excuse myself?"

"Plans Mother?" Castle asked.

"Yes, the card party with the girls," Martha said with a slightly scolding tone of voice.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Castle said. "Well we're taking them to the ceramic studio, around downtown, and then to the _Narrows_."

"How long will you keep it from them?" Martha asked with a smile at their plans.

"As long as possible," Beckett said. She had wanted to talk to her husband but the practice was starting again, the other students dancing with Julia and Peter so she told herself to wait.

"Let's try those steps from the top one more time please," Ms. Grey told her students. She paced slowly back and forth watching them moving and when they stopped she smiled and nodded at them. "Very nice," she said. "Now I want to know if it's alright that Julia and Peter dance on their own."

When the others nodded, Julia looked at her partner and they got into hold, waiting for Ms. Grey to start the song. As soon as they heard the lyrics where they'd be starting she and Peter began to go around together and she couldn't help smiling as the song made her happy.

"Good job," Castle murmured to his wife.

"Alright you two are good but we're having an issue with a transition Peter," Ms. Grey told him. "Watch me." She then began to hop around as the two had been doing and she slowed down at a flick of her right foot before swinging that foot into an arc with her toes on the floor. "See? I noticed that you're flicking and then swooping into that arc, you need to take it easy there. Do that with me okay?"

Peter nodded and stood with the teacher to follow her, doing that same move a few times as he still had an issue with not swooping as she had called it.

Castle and Beckett watched as the class went into the Paso Doble, the class practicing Julia and Peter's dance before they did it on their own. Since it took time for Ms. Grey to correct the students where they needed it and then to do the same for Julia and Peter themselves they were working on that until it was nearly four thirty.

"Good job everyone," Ms. Grey said to end the class. "We'll practice more tomorrow of course, so go back home and get some rest."

"What are we going to do with all the leaves you have?" Beckett asked her husband as soon as the students were going to the changing rooms.

"We can save them… or attempt to," Castle said, slightly cringing.

"So, how's the case now?" Martha asked when neither her son nor daughter in law said anything else.

"At a major impasse," Castle said before he told her quickly what had happened after they'd left the house earlier.

"I wonder at the daughter of the ex-fiancé," Martha said.

"She's insane; though they have her on medication; but she doesn't have any kind of resources to really orchestrate anything," Beckett said as Hutchinson had gone to talk to the girl after they'd returned from East Setauket.

"And the motorcycle? It seems as if people should have seen it," Martha told them.

"They should have but of course they didn't," Castle replied. "Can't make it that easy for us."

"Ready?" Beckett asked Julia and Mari as they walked out to them.

"Yeah, what do I do about my socks?" Julia asked.

"You're going to need to throw them away," Beckett replied. "Do that tomorrow, come on."

After they were outside the school Julia recalled what they'd talked about when her parents had come into the class and she asked eagerly, "What are we gonna do?"

"You'll find out when we go," Castle said simply. He couldn't help laughing when Julia frowned at him and said, "We'll go soon."

"Homework?" Beckett asked her.

"Not today," Julia said, shaking her head.

"Then you'll find out even sooner," Castle said as they were nearing the Foster house. As soon as they got there he, Beckett and his mother waited at the end of the walkway after saying goodbye to Mari, watching the two girls make their way to the front door where they stopped and turned to each other before Julia obviously started to speak.

"You're planning on going around downtown?" Martha asked the two as they were waiting.

"I think we want to make up to the girls," Castle commented.

"For what?" Beckett asked him.

"I thought that sounded nice," Castle admitted. He smiled when his wife playfully pushed his shoulder before he then said, "I think we wanted to take them out."

"That will be a good enough reason for them," Martha said as they looked down at the house to see that Mari was ringing the doorbell.

"Are Mommy and Daddy here?" Eliza asked her sister as she looked around Rebecca who'd answered the door.

"Yeah, they came in the middle of my class," Julia told her.

"Good," Eliza said before she hugged Dani whose hand she was holding. She took her sister's hand and waved to Rebecca and David telling them, "Thank you for letting me play."

"We were happy to, tell your parents to call me when they can okay?" David told her.

"Do you want to know about the case?" Eliza asked them.

A little surprised David said, "I would."

"We'll tell them," Julia said. "Bye," she said before she and her sister went back up the walkway to their family.

Picking up Eliza once she'd reached them Castle kissed her cheek and said, "I'm guessing you had a good time?"

"Yeah," the little girl said with a smile. "Do you have to go back?"

"No, we're done for the day," Beckett told her as she watched her kissing Castle's cheek. "We should get back home though."

"Why?" Eliza asked as they were walking.

"Because we're going out," Julia said. "Mommy and Daddy said we're gonna do something special."

"What?" Eliza asked.

"You'll see soon," Castle promised them. He handed Eliza over to his wife as they had reached the gate and he unlocked it, telling them, "Very soon since your sister doesn't have any homework."

"Yay," the little girl said with a heavy giggle before they walked up to the house.

Watching the dogs greeting the girls Castle said to his mother, "When are you leaving?"

"Soon, Janice wants us to go over to the salon for a pedicure," Martha replied.

"A pedicure before you play cards?" Beckett asked.

"We think she might be trying to win," Martha said jokingly. "But we can't figure out how she would do that. I just need to grab a few things and I will see you either later tonight or in the morning."

"Girls," Beckett called.

"Are you gonna go Gram?" Eliza asked first.

"Not quite yet," Martha replied as she went up the stairs. "When I come downstairs we'll say goodnight."

"What about us?" Eliza then asked her parents.

"After she goes," Castle said first. He knew his wife was looking at him so he added, "If your mom says that's okay."

"It is," Beckett replied, trying not to roll her eyes.

"But where are we going?" Julia said impatiently.

"I'm off," Martha said, not realizing she was keeping Julia's question from being answered. "I will have breakfast with you two in the morning."

"Have fun at cards Gram," Julia said first as she and her sister hugged her at the same time.

"Yeah tell us about them?" Eliza asked.

"I will," Martha said with a soft laugh. She kissed them both and said, "I love you both darlings, goodnight."

"Night," the girls said together.

"I love you too Gram," Eliza said.

"I love you too Gram," Julia then echoed.

After saying goodbye to her Castle watched with his family as his mother drove out of the gate and when it was closed said to the two, "Should we take a nap?"

"Don't tease them Rick," Beckett said, shaking her head as the girls had immediately chorused a "No!" to their father's question. "We can tell you now what we're going to do. First we're going to the ceramic studio."

Smiling as she had to pause there because their daughters were gasping Castle told them, "I think now is a good time to make some Christmas presents."

"For everyone?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Not at once if that's what you want to do," Beckett told them. "But you can make a start."

"Could we go back with Grandpapa?" Julia asked.

"I think so," Beckett said, smiling at her husband when he glanced at her. "It's better if you ask him though. Now after that we're going to walk downtown and then we'll have dinner at the _Narrows_."

"Ooh!" Eliza said. When everyone looked at her she said, "I wanna go."

"And we will, let me take you upstairs so you can change," Beckett said to Julia.

"I can do it, wait for us," the girl said, taking her little sister's hand before they headed up the stairs.

With a smile Beckett said, "I should have known."

"Of course," Castle replied. He then said, "Do you want to call Brad, see how they're doing?"

"No," Beckett said simply.

Castle was startled and he said, "No? Then I guess we're just waiting."

"Also, this," Beckett said, reaching up to him to cup his cheek before bringing him down to her for a kiss. As soon as their lips were touching she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, holding him close to her before he was doing the same to her. Their tongues met in her mouth and she pretended to pull away from his before they parted slowly.

Seeing the smile on his wife's face nearly made Castle breathless and he said with a sigh, " _I think we should go to bed tonight without anything on either of us_."

" _Really_?" Beckett asked, one eyebrow slightly raised. When her husband's response was to crush his lips to her she was responding to him as much as she could until they finally had to breathe. Gently running her hand over the back of his head she said, " _As long as it's just us I'm fine with that_."

" _Good_ ," Castle replied before he nuzzled her lips with his. When he heard their daughters coming to the foyer stairs he sighed before said, "I am happy to go with them so you know."

"I'm aware," Beckett said in amusement. Before he could step away from her she gently kissed him before they parted just as their daughters were coming down the stairs. "You two can paint one thing today," she told them as they walked to the garage once Julia was in her coat.

"For who?" Eliza asked.

"I think you need to decide," Castle said as he was helping the little girl into her car seat.

"Will the doggies be kay?" Eliza then said, trying to look around her father to them.

"They're having their dinner early so they will be," Beckett told her. When the girls were set she got in the driver's seat as Castle sat next to her and she drove them downtown, stopping as close to the ceramic studio as she could.

Stepping inside Castle wasn't surprised when they were recognized and were allowed to look at the items to paint. He was watching the two look everything over when he felt a small hand slip into his. "Having a hard time?" he asked Julia.

"No, are you gonna paint anything?" she asked him.

"Not today, we're just going let you paint," Castle told her.

Julia wanted to protest but realized their parents had a lot of stuff they'd gotten at the studio already. She then asked, "Could I paint something for Erin?"

"Of course," Beckett said, having heard that. "I can imagine she'd like something here."

"What?" Julia asked.

Realizing why the girl had told them that Beckett's eye scanned the items on the shelves and she said, "A plate."

"Really?" Julia asked in surprise.

"Yes, you know her favorite colors," Beckett replied. "Paint a pattern with them."

"Okay," Julia said, studying the different types of plates that were available.

"Any ideas?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Eliza said. "That one," she said, pointing to a horse.

"Who's it for?" Julia asked her.

"Dani," Eliza replied. "She likes horsies too."

"Did she tell you that?" Beckett asked as they walked together over to a table.

When her sister nodded Julia was about to protest when her mother rested her hand on her arm. "How?" she said instead.

Eliza merely shrugged, not realizing that her family was looking at each other in their confusion, and studied the horse. "How do I paint it Mommy? I'm gonna make a mess," she said.

"Do you want me to help you?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding rapidly once.  
"Do you need my help at all?" Beckett asked Julia.

"I think I'm okay," the girl said slowly, looking at her plate.

"Do you want to draw the pattern first?" Beckett said, not surprised her daughter was uncertain looking at the space she had to paint.

"On a piece of paper?" Julia responded.

"Good idea," Castle said across the table as his wife was grabbing one for her.

"She likes blue, red and green," Julia told her mother once she had the paper.

"Worry about placing the colors until after you have the shapes," Beckett told her.

"She likes the character Harlequin, his costume," Julia said.

"Harley Quinn?" Castle asked quickly as he was waiting for Eliza to pick what color she wanted the horse to be.

"Not the villain," Beckett said, rolling her eyes. "He's teasing you," she told their oldest.

"I know," Julia said. "I know who Harley Quinn is too Daddy. But not her, the other one from Italy. So, triangles?"

"Do you want white lines in between them?" Beckett asked.

Julia thought that over for a while and said, "Okay. But I don't know if I can draw that straight."

"I'll help," Beckett said. She grabbed a pencil before she paused and said, "You don't need the paper now."

"No," Julia said with a laugh before she watched her drawing the lines for the triangles. Since the plate was small it didn't take long before she finished and she said, "Thank you," with a smile.

"I'm glad you like it, I'm not an artist or architect but I did my best," Beckett replied before she watched her daughter pick out some colors.

"I thought architects use measuring tools," Castle commented.

"Are you painting the horse yet?" Beckett asked with her eyes playfully narrowed at him.

"Sure," Castle said. "She's having some trouble with the color."

"Is this good?" Eliza asked, holding out a color that was close to the one that she knew Lottie was.

"Oh… Lottie," Julia breathed, startled she'd forgotten her.

"We can stop by on the way to the _Narrows_ to see her," Beckett replied with a smile. "We forgot about her for a little too."

"You were busy?" Julia asked while she was painting with the blue she had picked out.

"Very," Castle replied. "Though we did go home for a little bit."

"You did?" Julia asked, looking up from her plate.

"Yeah, we looked at leaves and then played with the doggies," Eliza told her, glancing over from watching their father painting the horse. "And they told me a story."

"Which one?" Julia said, unable to help the jealousy in her voice.

"The first time we took her out into the snow," Beckett said. "So you know that one already since you were there."

"Oh," Julia said. "That was fun but I don't think you knew what the snow was."

"I was too little," Eliza said with a smile.

"But eventually she got it," Castle said, smiling at the little girl next to him.

"When's it gonna snow?" Eliza asked him.

"I don't know, hopefully for Christmas!" Castle said, smiling as she giggled and he leaned over to nuzzle his nose against hers before they went back to painting the horse figurine together.

Beckett smiled at the two before she looked at Julia and saw she was serious painting the last blue triangle. "You made a good choice for that one," she told her when her daughter looked up at her.

"Thanks," Julia said. "I hope it doesn't take me too long to paint this."

Looking back across the table at her husband Beckett saw Castle was painting the mane and tail in black before she said, "You have smaller spaces," to Julia.

"I guess," the girl said.

"What is it?" Castle asked, able to tell something was on her mind.

"I want to hear a story too," Julia said, not aware that her mother had been about to urge her to tell them.

"Well… this isn't the best place for that," Castle said, looking around.

"Once we get home," Beckett commented.

"Can I hear it too?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Yes," Beckett said, slightly laughingly. "And your horse looks great; I think Dani will love it."

"Should she get the shine?" Castle asked her as Eliza threw her arms around his neck.

"No," Beckett said.

"But then it looks like your statues Mommy," Eliza protested.

"Some of her Lladros don't have that," Julia pointed out to her sister as she was just finishing with the red triangles.

"Oh… kay, then do that Daddy," Eliza said.

"I'll tell them," Castle said with a smile.

"Don't paint too fast," Beckett told Julia when she looked up at them to see they were watching her.

"I know but I feel weird," Julia replied.

"Mommy," Eliza said, having walked around the table. She held her arms up to her mother in response to Beckett's question of what and once she was on her lap she leaned against her and said, "Can we go to the toy store?"

"Yes, but just to look," Beckett replied, kissing the top of her head after she'd spoken. "We're getting close to Christmas so we'll have to start getting your lists finished."

"Do we pick out something now?" Eliza asked.

"Maybe," Castle said. "You need to see how things go once we're there."

"How things go?" Beckett echoed, looking at her husband.

"Yes… okay maybe I was distracted," Castle replied.

"By what?" Beckett said.

"Just checking I got everything on the horse," Castle said. "And I did. And now we're ready."

Looking at Julia, Beckett smiled at the sight of the plate and said, "Now your plate."

"Maybe not," Julia said thoughtfully, studying the plate closely.

"Better idea since this will probably go into her room," Castle suggested. When she nodded in agreement he stood with the two items and went to the nearest employee.

"How do we when know when they finish them?" Eliza asked as she and her sister went with Beckett near the entrance.

"They'll text me," Castle replied. "They have my number remember."

"So now we can go?" Julia asked hopefully.

"We can," Castle replied before they left the studio.

"Rick," Beckett said when they crossed the street and she realized where they were going to first.

"You should have known," Castle replied easily before he opened the door to the flower shop and motioned them inside.

Though Beckett wanted to protest she followed their daughters inside and watched him walk up to the register before the girls turned her attention to some of the bouquets that were already prepared.

"Is this 'cause it's fall?" Eliza asked, pointing to some that had orange and yellow plants that looked like berries.

"I think so," Beckett replied. "Did you two know your daddy wanted to come here?"

"No," Julia said before Eliza shook her head no. "He's surprising us too."

"You're gonna take the flowers he gives right Mommy?" Eliza asked worriedly.

"Sure," Beckett replied with a smile before she looked up to see her husband walking up to them.

" _There's nothing attached to these_ ," Castle said in a rush as he handed her some purplish-blue looking flowers and some red and yellow looking berries with leaves. "For you love."

"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile, trying not to roll her eyes.

"What are they?" Julia asked, trying not to sound too impatient as she and her sister wanted to know.

"These are asters," Castle began.

"That's a symbol of love," Beckett replied as the girls looked at her.

"And these are from arbutus which is called a strawberry tree," Castle said.

"What does it mean?" Eliza asked softly when neither said anything and just looked at each other.

"You're the only one I love," Castle answered.

Sharing a look with her sister Julia said, "You made a good choice."

"And you're lucky," Beckett said, shaking herself.

"I saw the meaning and thought I should use it," Castle replied, smiling at her. "Should we keep going?"

Not saying anything Beckett walked with him and the girls over to the door and after saying goodbye to the worker behind the register they walked out and down the street. "Do you two want to go in?" she asked as they soon came to the bookstore.

"I do," Julia said quickly.

"Me too, I wanna see the books," Eliza added. "What about the flowers?"

"I can take them in," Beckett assured her before they went in. She had wondered if Sandy would be there but there was a young man; who they knew as Trent; behind the counter. After they'd returned his greeting they went together to the kids' section where they let the girls go around on their own since they could still see them. " _You_ -" she began to say.

" _I had to_ ," Castle told her.

" _Let me finish_ ," Beckett replied with a smile at how quickly he'd spoken. " _I appreciate this_ ," motioning the bouquet up slightly. " _But you need to let me do something for you_."

" _Just give me tonight and I'll be wildly happy_ ," Castle said. When his wife looked at him doubtfully he said seriously, " _I will_." But she still was staring at him so he quickly said, " _Then let me pick something from one of our books_."

" _Alright but you don't need to ask my permission_ ," Beckett replied.

" _Because you trust me_ ," Castle finished with a smile as he knew she had said what she'd wanted to.

" _That goes unsaid_ ," Beckett replied calmly before he was suddenly wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. She turned her head and they quickly brushed their lips together before their youngest was coming up to them. "You found a book?" she asked.

"Yeah can… may I please get this book?" Eliza asked seriously.

"I think so," Beckett said, taking it with her free hand before she said, "I think she's taking after you," to her husband as she showed him the book.

Taking it, Castle said, "It's not her fault it's here already," Castle said jokingly.

"No but I stand by what I said," Beckett said as it was a Christmas themed book.

"What about Jules?" Eliza asked, having been smiling at them during their conversation.

"I'm here," the girl said.

"Three?" Castle said with his eyebrow raised.

"I'm gonna buy two of them," Julia said, the two Boxcar Children books. "Can I get this one?"

"May," Eliza whispered.

Glancing at her sister Julia then smiled and said, "May I get this one?"

" _Baby-Sitters Club_?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"What?" Castle said, watching her.

"I read this book," Beckett told them as she saw they were all looking at her questioningly.

"Today?" Eliza asked hesitantly.

Smiling Beckett shook her head and said, "No, when I was eleven I started reading them."

"They don't look that…" Julia started to say before she trailed off.

"Old?" Beckett finished for her with a smile. "You can say that because they are for you. They started when I was six but I wasn't ready to read them until five years later so I had a lot of catching up to do."

"Did you read them all?" Eliza asked.

"They stopped publishing them when I was twenty so no, I last read them when I was… fifteen," Beckett said. She thought for a moment and told them, "I think the last book I read was _Claudia and the First-Thanksgiving_ which I remember as my mom took me after school to pick it up before my birthday. So technically I was fourteen still."

"Do they have crimes?" Eliza said.

"Some of them do," Castle said. When his wife looked at him he smiled at her and said, "You don't think Alexis read those? And that because she did I did too?"

"Did you really Daddy?" Julia asked.

"I did, why?" Castle asked.

"I thought you would want me to read just _The Boxcar Children_ ," Julia said a little shyly.

"Oh no," Castle said quickly. "You can read what you like and you know your sister read both series."

"You can get the second book sweetie," Beckett told her.

At first Julia was going to ask her mother if she was serious but she could tell that she was so she hugged her quickly and then went to grab the second book she'd seen.

Since Beckett was paying for the books Castle took the girls to the front of the store, letting Julia hold the bouquet while Eliza watched it closely. He glanced over at Beckett, about to just watch her when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve before he looked to see it was Eliza so he turned his attention fully on her to see what was wrong.

"Do you mean what the flowers say?" the little girl asked.

"Of course," Castle replied. "What?" he asked Julia when he saw the smile on her face.

"You understood her," the girl replied.

"I did, I must be getting better at that," Castle commented.

"Let's go," Beckett told them. "We have time to see Lottie-"

"Mommy!" the girls said at the same time.

"I didn't forget the toy store," Beckett replied, smiling at them both. "But is there anywhere you want to go after because if you do we might need to go through them quickly."

"The art store?" Julia said slowly.

"What do you need?" Castle asked as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Some colored pencils," Julia answered. "I'm running out."

"Okay we'll go there after the toy store," Beckett said as they made their way over to the toy store.

"Mommy?" Julia asked, going to her mother from her father and taking her hand.

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked.

"You said some of the _Baby-Sitters Club_ books were mysteries," Julia told her.

"We'll meet you inside," Beckett told her husband. When he and Eliza had gone inside she said to her oldest, "There are some of those but not as many as the regular books."

"Did you read them?" Julia said.

"A number of them," Beckett said. "I don't remember how many but one that was my favorite I did. It was about… oh god," she finished with a laugh.

"What?" Julia asked, wondering what was so funny.

"It was about the character Dawn in California seeing a surfer ghost," Beckett replied.

"Did you believe it," Julia said, slightly surprised.

"No," Beckett answered, shaking her head. "I can't remember if it was fake or not… probably, but I think I just liked the idea of surfing. And to tell you the truth Dawn was my favorite character."

"Dawn likes her but that's because they have the same name," Julia replied. "She likes Claudia the most."

"Oh, I can see that," Beckett said, recalling the character and nodding.

"Mommy?" Julia asked as they were going into the store.

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett replied.

"Can I talk to you about the books when I read them?" Julia asked.

"Of course. And you know you can talk to your daddy about them too," Beckett replied, hugging her briefly. "But first you need to read the books. Come on before your sister finishes and we're still going through." When Julia nodded she followed her daughter through the store, going first to the kits to make different arts and crafts. Looking around what she could see of the store she soon saw her husband and she waved at him before he returned the gesture. They turned their attention back to their daughters, looking to see what they might want once Christmas rolled around.


	25. Set On You (Part 2)

"Is she here?" Eliza was asking Castle.

"There," he replied, nodding inside the stable.

"Hi Lottie," Julia said, standing in front of the stall her horse was in, next to her parents' horses stalls.

Scratching gently at the mare's ears Beckett studied Lottie closely and she said, "She's doing a lot better."

"You can tell," Castle said.

"She's pretty," Eliza breathed, the only one there who hadn't met the horse yet. She then peered into the stall and said, "Where's the baby?"

"It's in her tummy still," Julia replied. "That's why it's so big."

"A pony is there?" Eliza asked with wide eyes, realizing then why the horse was so round around its middle.

"It is," Beckett said. "You've seen mares that are pregnant before."

"Yeah but that's our pony," Eliza said in awe.

"It's cool," Julia supplied for her sister.

"Yeah," Eliza answered before her parents were looking at the doorway.

"How was she on the ride?" Beckett called to Charlie as he was walking inside.

"Really good, I almost thought we'd have to call you in but I get the feeling she was happy to go," the owner replied. "We're keeping an eye on her though, just in case."

"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile. "We just came to see her but call if anything happens."

"Of course," Charlie replied. "I was planning on that anyways."

After the girls had both said goodbye to Lottie; Eliza having been petting the mare; Castle and Beckett led them out to the car noticing that Julia was a little quiet.

"What if the baby comes early?" the girl asked as Castle was putting her sister into her car seat.

"They'll call the vet and she'll come to deliver it," Beckett told her with a slight smile. "Don't worry they want to make sure the pony is born and okay too."

Though she still didn't feel sure Julia knew she could trust her mother so she was able to nod and she then said, "Now we're going to dinner?"

"Now we're going to dinner," Castle answered instead. "You're not hungry?"

"I'm starving," Julia admitted as she got into the back seat.

"Me too!" Eliza exclaimed.

"We're going right now," Castle said slightly laughingly before he closed the door.

Beckett, expecting her husband to go to the driver's seat since it was right next to them, was startled slightly when he grabbed her. "They can see us through the-" she began when he cut her off with a kiss. Though their daughters could see them she couldn't make herself pull away and she held onto him tighter before they carefully parted. "Are you not hungry?" she asked him.

"I am," Castle replied evenly, looking into her eyes.

"Okay," Beckett breathed out heavily. "We should go."

Castle had to force himself to let her go before he said, "Yeah, they might get Eliza out of her seat."

"And then you'd have to put her right back in," Beckett told him teasingly.

"Sure," Castle replied. He smiled when she rolled her eyes as she went around the car and he got into the driver's seat, wondering what the girls were going to say.

"Now we can go," Eliza said.

"We can," Beckett said laughingly before Castle started the car. When they were near the _Narrows_ she said to her husband, " _Ba chóir dúinn a fháil milseog leo_."

"We're gonna have dessert?" Julia asked excitedly.

"You understood me?" Beckett asked, looking back at her.

" _Milseog_ means dessert," Eliza said. "Jules told me," she told her parents with a wide smile.

"I told your daddy we should get dessert with you," Beckett said. "But that's only if you behave."

"We'll be good," the girls said at the same time.

"Ah, creepy," Castle said, pretending to jump.

The girls laughed with their parents before they were getting out of the car at the restaurant. They walked inside together before being taken to their usual table, Julia and Eliza sitting next to the window on either side of it.

"Look at what you want first before you get lost in the view sweetie," Beckett told Julia who she was sitting next to.

"The same," the girl said simply.

Beckett looked across the table at her husband and shook her head with a smile on her face before she glanced at Eliza. "You too sweetie?" she asked.

"Yeah," the little girl said absently as they were watching a ship sailing by.

"I guess that's as good as it's going to get," Castle commented. "What do you think about Christmas decorations?"

Glancing at the girls; as she knew why he had said that exactly; Beckett wasn't surprised when they got no reaction and she shook her head again when she turned back to him. "Good try though," she said as the waitress came over to them. Since the girls' orders were so easy and she and Castle knew what they wanted they ordered before they were left alone. She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it tightly before she said, "I hope the flowers will last."

"They should, it's why I got the towel wet around it," Castle replied since he'd wrapped a wet washcloth along the ends of the cut stems. "But once we get home I'll race to get them into a vase." He looked at the girls with her and wasn't surprised they were still looking out the window. "Hopefully they'll eat," he commented.

"Yes, we will," Eliza said, turning to look at them.

"Finally, I thought we'd never get you guys to look over at us again," Castle said, pretending to be relieved.

"We don't get to come here too many times," Julia replied as she looked at them as well. "And usually it's dark."

"It almost is," Castle pointed out.

"Girls," Beckett said. "Sit straight okay?" She wasn't surprised when the two did so, reluctantly, and faced her. "Thank you. Now tell us about how school went for you guys."

"Go first," Julia said to her sister.

Eliza nodded and then talked about what she'd done up until the point that she had seen her parents coming home. "And after Gram taught me solitaire and we played."

"Sounds like you had a nice day," Castle told her with a smile as he brushed her hair off her cheek.

"Yeah, what did you do?" Eliza asked her sister.

Julia went over her classes as they were served their dinner and she finished in between eating. "I was so lucky I didn't have homework," she finished with when they were nearly finished with their food.

"Have you practiced your marathon dance at all?" Castle asked.

"We're gonna do that tomorrow or Wednesday," Julia replied. "Will you be able to come see?"

"Hopefully," Beckett said, squeezing her arm gently as she knew she was asking about their case. She saw that Eliza; the last with any food left on her plate; was finishing so she said, "Get the check Rick."

"Alright," Castle said easily, waving to their waitress.

"Can we still get dessert?" Eliza asked.

"We were good," Julia added rapidly.

"I think so," Beckett said with a smile on her face.

"Not think, you know," Castle told her. "I think she's teasing you two."

"Yeah," Eliza said, playfully pouting at her mother. She then giggled as Beckett pretended to give her a look and she had her father help her off her chair before she walked around the table.

Picking her up Beckett placed her on her lap saying, "When we get home, you're having a bath and your sister is taking a shower. And that's before we have our dessert."

"Do I have to go to bed after?" Eliza asked.

"No," Beckett replied with a smile, kissing her temple. "We'll play a game after if you'd like."

"Yeah," Eliza said eagerly. "UNO!"

"We can," Castle said, getting his card back in his wallet. "We're ready love."

"Come on," Beckett said, setting Eliza down to help her with her coat. She buttoned it up and picked her youngest back up, taking Julia's hand before they walked with Castle back out to their car.

" _Are we agreed on what exactly we're getting them_?" Castle asked his wife once the girls were safely in the back.

" _I think we are_ ," Beckett replied. " _And yes, we can get them cupcakes_ ," she told him, having to translate the word 'cupcakes' as 'cup cakes' since they didn't know the word in Irish.

" _Great, we_ -" Castle began to say before all of a sudden, his wife was grasping him and kissing him hard. It didn't last very long and when she moved away he said, " _You're going to kill me_ ," having to call that as she was walking around the car. When all she gave him was a glance over her shoulder he said, "Thank you," before he followed her into the car where their daughters were somehow patiently waiting.

* * *

"Why can't I play Mommy?" Eliza asked her mother as she finished rinsing the soap off her body.

"I told you sweetie, it's either play here or play UNO," Beckett replied.

Eliza looked like she was giving that serious thought before she said, "Kay, I'll play UNO."

"Good, stand up," Beckett told her. She started to stand up but hesitated before finishing and taking Eliza out. "So," she said as she was drying her off. "Tomorrow we might not really be able to come home like we did before."

"Yeah huh," Eliza replied before her mother looked at her. She smiled and said, "If you finish?"

"That's true," Beckett said. "We'll see," she said as she left the towel on her daughter and turned to grab her clothes before she turned and saw the little girl racing out of the room. "Eliza!" she called in surprise.

"Oh, I think I need to catch your sister," Castle said to Julia. He'd waited in her room while she'd taken a shower and had brushed her hair for her before they'd heard Beckett's yell.

"Go Daddy," Julia said with a smile before she went to take her brush back.

Stepping out into the hall Castle managed to nab Eliza before she could go past him and to the library; where he knew instinctively she was heading. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her, tossing her up in the air slightly though she was naked.

"Was gonna read," Eliza said before she giggled heavily.

"I don't think so," Castle said before he looked at his wife. "Look what I caught."

"Thank you I was missing that," Beckett replied, reaching out to him. She took their youngest and said, "You know you're not supposed to do that."

Eliza didn't say anything, merely wrapped her arms around her mother's neck before they were back inside her room. "Am I in trouble?" she asked with a smile.

"No," Beckett replied. "I don't know how many times your sister did the same thing. It's something kids do."

"Both your sisters," Castle commented. When both girls looked at him he nodded and said, "She did though she probably won't remember it. You better hurry Kate; she won't have any time to play."

Since she knew that wasn't directed to her Beckett turned to Eliza and said, "He's right."

Immediately the little girl let her mother dress her in pajamas before they went downstairs together to the family room. "Did you do that?" Eliza asked her big sister.

"Yeah," Julia said. "But I don't remember."

Eliza made a face before she followed Julia over to the cabinet to get their game while they waited for their parents.

"Are you guys ready?" Castle said as he walked in with a plate and Beckett was behind him with their drinks.

"I couldn't shuffle the cards," Julia told him. "But it's ready."

"Okay," Castle said. "Get started on your cupcakes I'll start to shuffle." He picked up the large deck and split it before he then began to shuffle it. "Good?" he asked with a smile as Eliza bit into her cupcake which had autumn leaves on it.

"Wait until you finish your first bite," Beckett said gently to the little girl as she was already going for a second. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head before she watched Julia. "Are you okay sweetie?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's almost too pretty to eat," the girl replied as she'd been looking at the pumpkin and tiny fall leaves on her cupcake. She took a bite then and picked up the cards her father was dealing to them and asked, "How long can we play?"

"Not for too much longer," Beckett replied, setting down her cupcake that had leaves as well as red berries that had reminded her of the plant her husband had given her. "Are you okay?" she asked Eliza once Castle had finished and they all had seven cards.

"I don't need help," Eliza said firmly. "And you asked Jules that too."

"We want to help you if you need it," Castle commented. "You're first Julia."

After the girl had set down a card the game began and it was largely quiet as the girls were focused on their cards and cupcakes. When it had finished, Beckett winning, Eliza was on her father's lap and he'd been playing her cards.

"I'm surprised," Beckett commented as she reached for the little girl. "I didn't think she'd done that much."

"It's raining," Julia commented, hearing it hitting the windows as she got up with her parents.

"Not surprising," Castle replied. When his wife looked at him he shook his head and said, "I didn't know this was going to happen. It's probably just a small storm."

Beckett nodded and then went over to the stairs with them following her, feeling that Eliza was asleep the entire time she went up. As soon as she was inside the little girl's room she took her into the bathroom so she could help her brush her teeth.

Castle, after having Julia go into her room to brush her teeth, sat on the bed scratching at Rita's ears next to him. He watched Beckett come back out with their daughter in her arms and he asked, "Did she wake up at all or sleep through the whole thing?"

"She was awake," Beckett said with a smile. "But not for very long. Julia?"

"I'm here," the girl said as she hurried inside.

"Say goodnight to your sister," Castle told her quietly as he got off the bed to let Beckett sit where he'd been.

Padding over to her sister Julia smiled when Beckett looked pointedly at her bare feet before she turned her attention to Eliza. She just barely brushed her lips against her sister's cheek before she whispered an I love you and stepped back out of the way of her parents as she went to the door with Macca; patting Rita on the way.

"I love you sweetheart," Castle murmured as he pressed his lips to the top of Eliza's head. "Sweet dreams."

After her husband had moved for her Beckett kissed Eliza's forehead and told her gently, "I love you too Eliza, we'll see you in the morning." That done she tucked in the little girl securely before she went to where Castle and Julia were waiting for her.

Closing the light Castle followed his wife and their oldest to the latter's bedroom where he asked, "What are we doing now?"

"That depends on her," Beckett replied, nodding to their daughter.

"Think I can write a little bit?" Julia asked.

"Go ahead," Beckett replied. She and Castle sat down on the bed, expecting to need to wait a while for her to finish. But when she was soon after closing the book she asked, "You finished?"

"Yeah, there wasn't much for me to say," Julia said simply.

"Good because we need to talk about something," Beckett commented as the girl was making her way over to the bed.

"Is it what I asked before?" Julia said shyly as she tucked her legs underneath the covers.

"Yes, you realize you are way, way too young to help us," Castle told her.

"I know but if I'm gonna write how can I if I don't know how things go?" Julia said in slight protest.

"You ask us," Beckett said simply.

With a sigh Julia leaned back against the headboard and said, "Will you tell me if I do ask?"

"Yes," Castle said.

Julia sighed again before she sat back up and then asked, "So I don't have to go to bed yet do I?"

"Not yet," Castle answered after he'd checked the time.

"What did you want to do?" Beckett asked her.

"Tell me a story," Julia replied.

"Is this because we told one to your sister?" Castle said.

"No, can you tell me about one time I did what Lizzy did earlier?" Julia asked.

"I can tell you about the first time you did that," Beckett said. "It goes back to what we did before we had dinner." She waited for Julia to settle herself back against the headboard and as the girl was looking at her expectantly she began the story which had taken place only two months after she had adopted her daughter.

* * *

 _"Just a little bit more sweetie, it's not flat enough," Beckett told the little girl._

 _"Why Mommy?" Julia asked._

 _"It needs to be flat to bake," Beckett told her. "We can't eat raw cookie dough."_

 _"Kay," Julia said with a giggle as her mother was helping her roll the rolling pin over the gingerbread dough a few more times. "Is it ready now?" she asked hopefully._

 _"I think so," Beckett replied with a nod. She set aside the rolling pin and grabbed the cookie cutter she'd set out for them to use._

 _"A star?" Julia gasped in joy._

 _"It is," Beckett told her, kissing the side of her head. "Ready?"_

 _Julia nodded her head rapidly before she worked with her mother to cut out star shaped cookies from the dough they'd made together. When it was finished she watched her mother set them on the baking sheets she'd already prepared and was ecstatic when she could help her mother set them into the oven. "Now what?" she asked, jumping up and down._

 _"We wash our hands and hope our pizza doesn't come before we finish," Beckett said, leaning over and pressing her lips to her daughter's forehead._

 _After they'd done so the pizza that Beckett had ordered arrived and she and her daughter ate together at the coffee table._

 _"It smells good Mommy," Julia said when they paused in the middle of their meal to get the cookies out of the oven._

 _"It does," Beckett said with a smile as she watched her daughter obviously sniff at the scent of ginger. "Do you know what this reminds me of?" When Julia shook her head she said, "Christmas."_

 _"Is it now?" the little girl gasped in joy._

 _"No," Beckett replied. "It's July so we're a little bit away from that. But your grandmama and I made these and sugar cookies every year."_

 _"More cookies!" Julia said as her mother was taking the cookies off the sheets then._

 _"I know, your grandmama loved decorating the sugar ones and she and your grandpapa loved gingerbread," Beckett explained._

 _"I like it too," Julia said firmly though she couldn't remember ever tasting it before._

 _"You will," Beckett said, kissing her again. "But not yet," she said with a smile on her face as she held her daughter's hand before she could grab a cookie. "They need to cool down and we need to finish eating our pizza."_

 _"Yeah!" Julia said eagerly before they went back to their food. She fed the first bite of her last slice of pizza to her Stitch doll and then told her mother, "Stitch says he wants to steal the cookies."_

 _"Oh, I hope he won't," Beckett said, smiling at how serious the little girl was._

 _"No, he knows you won't let him," Julia said slowly before smiling. "But can he have a bite?"_

 _"Of yours," Beckett replied with a smile and a nod. "Finish your pizza sweetie."_

 _Julia nodded and after they'd finished eating she waited a little impatiently for her mother to finish cleaning up so they could have their cookies. She bit into hers; once they were sitting on the couch; and her eyes widened._

 _"So you do like it," Beckett said with a smile as she watched her daughter._

 _Nodding Julia tried not to eat too fast as she wanted to savor the taste since she knew her mother wasn't going to let them have it until again until Christmas. When she finished she even licked the crumbs off her fingers before she paused. "Mommy," she said a little tearfully. "I forgot to give some to Stitch!"_

 _Beckett didn't say anything; merely broke off a piece of her cookie before handing it to her daughter._

 _"Thank you, Mommy," Julia said in relief as she fed it to her doll._

 _Waiting for her daughter to finish up her piece Beckett said, "Are you full?"_

 _"My tummy is happy now," Julia said with a nod and a wide smile._

 _"Alright then come on," Beckett said, getting up and turning back to her daughter. "Time for a bath."_

 _Julia was going to protest or hide but looking at her mother she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. So she merely sighed and let Beckett pick her up before she asked, "Can I play?"_

 _"Just a little bit," Beckett replied, kissing her temple. "But don't worry next time you'll be able to do that a little more."_

 _"Thanks," Julia said before her mother set her down in her bathroom. When she was inside the water a little bit later she looked at her mother and said, "Are you gonna take a bath?"_

 _"I was planning on it," Beckett replied, rinsing her daughter off after washing her body._

 _"Why don't you take a bath with me?" Julia asked._

 _"There's not enough water to get us both clean," Beckett responded easily. She kissed her temple and said, "Go ahead and play."_

 _Julia began to play with the animal figurines that she had before she started to make them splash, waiting for her mother to stop her. But when she wasn't doing that she looked at Beckett in surprise before she was stopped. "Sorry," she said, a smile on her face._

 _"I know and it's time to get out," Beckett told her firmly. She picked Julia up and took her out of the tub, relieved there'd been no protest. After she had dried her off she turned for a moment before she suddenly heard the padding of feet on the floor. Sighing she walked after her, waiting to see where she was going to go before racing after her when she realized the little girl was making her way to the living room. "Sweetie," she said, kissing her cheek. "You can't come out here without clothes on."_

 _"I wanted to run," Julia said._

 _"And you can if you'd like but not until you have pajamas on," Beckett told her firmly. She smiled when her daughter nodded and then carried her over to the bathroom to dress her. Once her daughter had her teeth brushed she was going to take her to her room when she paused._

 _"Mommy?" Julia asked interestedly, thinking she was headed for her bedroom._

 _"Want to sleep in my bed tonight?" Beckett asked._

 _"Yeah," Julia replied, nodding her head rapidly. She lay back once her mother set her down and said with a smile, "Thank you Mommy."_

 _"You're very welcome," Beckett replied, tucking her in with the bed sheet. "I love you Julia, sweet dreams."_

 _"I love you too Mommy, a lot," Julia said, pronouncing the last two words firmly._

 _Sharing a kiss with her daughter Beckett then sat on the edge of the bed until she was sure that Julia was asleep. As soon as she was she stood carefully and went into the bathroom, leaving the door open before she prepared her bath. Inside the water and under the bubbles she'd drawn she grabbed her phone and texted her boyfriend, talking to him that way as she didn't want to risk waking her daughter up._

 _Opening her eyes Julia looked around herself and saw from the light in the bathroom that she was in her mother's bed and it was still night. She heard water moving and she moved to slide out of the bed before going to the doorway._

 _"Sweetie?" Beckett said as she opened her eyes to find her daughter there._

 _"I woke up Mommy," Julia said. "Are you gonna sleep?"_

 _"I was just going to get out right now," Beckett told her._

 _Nodding Julia watched her mother stand up and rinse off the bubbles before she asked, "Did you put them on your face?"_

 _"No," Beckett replied with a smile as she very quickly dried herself off. "And so you know I haven't done that since I was a little girl."_

 _"Like me?" Julia asked interestedly._

 _"Like you," Beckett said before she pulled her pajamas on. Slipping into her light robe last, she asked, "Are you thirsty?"_

 _Julia opened her mouth to say no but then stopped and nodded saying, "Little bit."_

 _"Me too," Beckett replied, picking her up. She carried her over to the kitchen, getting a glass of water that they shared together before she went back to her room. "Now you can sleep."_

 _"Yeah," Julia sighed before she shared a kiss with her mother. She told herself she was going to stay awake until Beckett got into the bed with her but was quickly asleep, too tired from the excitement that day to wait any longer._

 _Beckett was smiling as she slipped underneath the sheet and she gently pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead before she lay down next to her. Holding Julia to her she couldn't help amazing at how easily she'd slid into her role as a mother and she felt some slight anticipation for their plans the next day to go to the zoo. With that in mind she let herself fall asleep, not taking long to do so as spending time with Julia all day had made her pleasantly fatigued._

* * *

"Do you remember that at all?" Castle asked Julia, watching her closely.

"No… a little," Julia started to say before she recalled the taste of gingerbread as that had stayed with her. "Thank you for the gingerbread even though it wasn't Christmas."

"It seemed like the perfect dessert for that night," Beckett said, though her actual reason had been because she'd wanted to share the moment with her daughter and couldn't wait for December.

"Now it's time for bed?" Julia asked with a sigh as her parents stood.

"It is," Castle told her before she hugged Macca and kissed the top of his head. "Though I still want to know why you and your sisters would run around naked."

"Probably 'cause we have to wear clothes all the time," Julia replied with a wide smile.

"Okay, good enough," Castle replied before he shared a kiss with her. "Love you Julia."

"I love you too Daddy," Julia replied, hugging him hard before they let go of each other and her mother stepped up to her.

"I love you sweetie, tomorrow we'll try to see Lottie for longer," Beckett told her.

"Really?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she hugged her around the neck as tightly as she could before they shared a kiss. "I love you too Mommy, night," she said before she lay down and let her mother tuck her in. Feeling safe she watched her parents leave before she closed her eyes, listening to the rain on the window as it began to lull her to sleep.

Inside their room Beckett stopped her husband at the door and said, "Tea?"

"Oh… sure," Castle replied with a nod. He shared a quick kiss with her before he left and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen.

As soon as he was gone Beckett began to prepare their room, finishing in the closet before she waited there to make sure the girls didn't come up to knock on the door before her husband was back. But she soon heard it open and knew already that it was him, waiting to see what he would do then.

"Kate?" Castle asked, glancing to the bathroom as he locked the door but realizing that she wasn't going to be in there. A second later walking further into the room he smelled the nag champa incense they used during their lovemaking the most as they both loved the scent. He then noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was walking out from the closet, making him suck in a deep breath of air. "Wh-where did you get that?" he managed to groan out.

"It doesn't really matter," Beckett told him with a smile as she took the one of the mugs of tea he was holding. She went to the space she'd cleared in front of the fireplace; which was burning at that moment; and sat back before her husband followed her. She could literally feel his gaze on her body which at that moment was nude except for an Indian shawl she had picked up in the city their last visit there. It was a rich blue shade and had an Indian design along the edge of it in silver, the silk fabric completely sheer. "So you like it," she stated as he got on his knees very close to her.

" _Tú breathnú cosúil le bandia_ ," Castle said heatedly, needing to tell her she looked like a goddess as she was in that moment. He thought the blue of the shawl and the glow of the fire made her even more stunning than she already was and she was making him feel literally intoxicated.

" _Do bandia_ ," Beckett quickly said, allowing him that though she wanted to remind him that she was only going to consider herself his goddess.

" _I adore you_ Kate," Castle said heatedly.

Beckett was going to respond with the same when her husband suddenly crushed his lips to hers as hard as he possibly could. She wrapped her arm around his neck as soon as she could before their tongues began to gently dance against one another repeatedly. When they parted she smiled and said, "I feel a little strange right now."

At first Castle had no idea what she was talking about before he then realized it and he got up. He undressed, trying to go as slowly as he could though it was difficult since he wanted his wife badly. But he consoled himself with looking at her body, the shawl draping over it and making him jealous of the fabric that was nearly as soft as her skin. Finally, he was naked and he moved down to her, kissing her hard before she stopped him. "We-" he started to say.

"We need to finish our tea," Beckett told him seriously.

Though he honestly wanted to say screw the tea Castle knew she wasn't going to budge on that so he began to drink. Since he'd made it hot they were a little slow going but he then realized why exactly she'd made sure they had it. It made him calm down enough that when they stopped he didn't launch himself at her; instead he leaned over and gently kissed her. They kept that up; kissing numerous times and very rapidly; before they parted and he watched her lay down. He set aside the mugs and then followed her, about to speak when she covered his mouth with her hand so she could do so first.

"I'm not quite ready," Beckett told him seriously.

"Then we should remedy that," Castle told her seriously. When she smiled he leaned over and took her lips gently as his right hand was reaching up to gently run over her breasts, the shawl covering her there. Parting from her he said, "Any requests?"

"I'll leave it up to you," Beckett said with a smile. When her husband crushed her lips with his own she had to wonder how long she would end up lasting once he started on her. But she soon became too involved with his tongue curling around her own to worry about that, more so when she felt his hand on her.

"You're ready," Castle stated after he'd pulled away.

"I'm not," Beckett replied. When he looked at her with a slight frown she bit her lower lip and said, "To a degree."

Castle couldn't help laughing and he carefully stroked at her sex, trying to touch all of it at once as much as he could. He watched her sigh and arch her back a little towards his hand before he focused on her clit. He was able to find it easily and he asked, "Does undressing turn you on?"

Giving him a brief look Beckett then said, "More thinking about your reaction."

"Oh," Castle said before he looked down at himself.

"I saw," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at him. "And it's impressive."

"Throbbing too," Castle said, laughing again when his wife pushed his shoulder slightly. "Okay," he said simply before he leaned over and kissed her deeply.

Beckett, feeling his fingers at her clit once more, moaned into his mouth before tilting her head back as the pleasure was already too much to stand. She felt his lips along her neck, kissing gently at her, before she whispered, "Would you still be able to taste me?"

Jerking back Castle looked down at his wife and saw that she was serious so he nodded and then went back to her neck. He was kissing over her for a while before he trailed down to her upper chest, feeling the way her aquamarine pendant was far cooler than her skin. He shuddered in joy at the sensation before he moved lower. Her breasts; as he pulled back to see; were covered by the shawl though he could still see them. Reaching up he cupped his hand over them both, one at a time, before he leaned down and began brushing his lips over them before he soon became frustrated by the fabric but didn't move it away.

As if sensing his irritation Beckett quickly pulled the shawl away from her mounds, her husband moving out of the way before he was back. Her eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head as she felt his lips trailing all around her skin, heat that was quick to travel through her entire body. She reached down and gently caressed the back of his head, waiting a little impatiently for him to take her breasts with his mouth.

Moving his head just enough Castle captured her left nipple with his lips before taking it the rest of the way until he could suckle at her. Hearing the way she was crying out he decided he was going to stay for a while, loving the way she moved against him and how it felt doing what he was to her. But eventually, switching back and forth between her breasts eagerly he was stopped by her. "Not apologizing," he told her firmly.

Beckett didn't reply, instead grabbed him and drew him down to her lips so they could kiss deeply. She trembled as the taste of him overwhelmed her tongue and she stroked it against his before they pulled apart. From the intensity in her husband's nearly black eyes she could guess he appreciated the way she looked with her eyes half lidded. She wanted to ask him when he was going to continue but he moved down to her abdomen, making her give a weak kind of noise as he brushed his lips gently over her skin repeatedly. It quivered in response to him and she felt a slight sense of relief when he moved lower still, not stopping until he was at her mound.

Though he wanted to take his time Castle thought he'd done so long enough and moved the rest of the way to her clit. He groaned slightly as she cried out heavily in pleasure at the first touch of his tongue before he began to very carefully lap at the swollen nub. There he lingered, for as long as possible before he moved further down. Rolling his tongue around her slick folds he could finally taste her and it took all his willpower not to go crazy to get even more of it.

When her husband finally dipped his tongue inside of her Beckett was crying out softly in her joy as she could feel it so easily. While he rubbed it back and forth she gasped out heavily as the sensation was quick to send a fire all the way up through her body. She reached for the pillow underneath her and arched her back, feeling him trying to get deeper inside of her before he moved away. Looking down at him she was about to say something when he was going back to her clit. That time he was covering it with her shawl and while she couldn't quite feel his tongue as before it was no less arousing, making her try to thrust against his mouth.

Holding her down with his hands Castle didn't stop, merely sliding down to her entrance when he knew she was close. He stayed there, wanting to get her fully off by then as his body was highly uncomfortable. He could tell; from the way she was moving and crying out; that she was close and he continued until finally she broke.

Chanting his name repeatedly Beckett held onto the back of her husband's head, thrusting against him as her ecstasy took over. For a moment everything had disappeared until she was just left with what she felt and the steady beat of her heart. When she had finally calmed down she had no idea how long it had taken her to do so, only feeling the aftermath of her pleasure. She realized her husband was very gently flicking his tongue along her entrance before she pulled him up to her.

Though it was almost painful to do so Castle pressed against his wife as close as he could, holding her to him though she was still on her back. "Okay?" he asked her.

Laughing softly Beckett murmured, "Yes but you should know I can recover."

"I was hoping you would," Castle replied.

"Pervert," Beckett said, smiling at him. They shared a deep kiss, though more sensuous than rough, and when they parted she moved away a little, reaching down to gently finger the tip of his erection.

Hissing heavily in reaction to her Castle reached for her hand and carefully pulled it away saying, "We should be on the bed before we go any further."

"We don't need to be," Beckett protested. She was slightly surprised when her husband didn't move them though and she said, "We're staying?"

"Just for a second," Castle replied before he leaned over, kissing her before he held her close.

At first Beckett thought he was going to take off her shawl when instead he draped it back over her again. Feeling him kissing her temple she said, "We should move."

"If I pull away from you it'll be a little awkward," Castle told her. "For me anyways."

"Which is why we need to move," Beckett said with a smile. "Come on."

They got up together and Castle went to her nightstand, unlocking the cabinet before he took out their book. "I'm still choosing," he commented to her.

"I guess so," Beckett said, smiling at him.

Castle glanced at her but didn't comment before he turned to the pages, flipping through them repeatedly until he stopped. Knowing that his wife was watching him he turned to her and said, "Found it."

"I can tell," Beckett replied before she looked down at the position. She tilted her head slightly and said, "Interesting."

"Can you do it?" Castle asked.

"Of course," Beckett replied. "But did you see this?" she asked him, pointing to some text on the left page.

Peering at it in the corner, just barely visible, Castle breathed out and said, "Okay, so we're not going to continue it all the way through…"

"No, we can't," Beckett replied. "If I pass out I might break my knees. But," she told him firmly. "I would like you to make me faint still."

Breathing a little harder Castle nodded and then set the book aside on her nightstand, leaning over and kissing her before he moved to get onto the bed. They were kissing for some time before they finally parted and smiled at each other. He cupped her cheek before he said seriously, "This won't last long."

"That's why I was surprised you chose it, unless it was the _premee kee neend_ that caught your eye," Beckett said.

"Okay so I saw it already," Castle said, pretending to sound disgruntled. He then said, "But I swear I was only thinking about how it would affect you."

Beckett smiled, as she did believe him, and she shared a kiss with him before bringing the book back to them. She ran her fingers over the प्रेमी की नींद text on the bottom, translating it in her mind to _lover's sleep_. They'd discovered that some of the positions in the book had that same text and realized it meant their tendency to lead to the woman fainting once they'd translated it. "Ready?" she asked her husband.

"Yeah," Castle said as he'd been looking at the picture himself. When she had put the book aside he laid down in the middle of the bed, taking her kiss before she turned away from him and straddled his lap quickly.

Waiting for her husband to bend his knees Beckett carefully pulled his length off his stomach before she was squatting instead of resting on her knees. Lowering herself on him she bit at her lower lip a little hard before she then felt that her ass was resting on him as she leaned back on her hands. "This…" she started to say, laughing breathily.

"Move Kate," Castle tried not to groan heavily. He ended up doing so anyway the moment she began to thrust and he was quick to follow her. He recalled that in the picture Shiva had his hand on Parvati's abdomen at her navel and knew that was supposed to be a hint to him as to where he was going to thrust. He did so, hoping he was managing to get close to the direction, and realized that Beckett above him was having some difficulties.

As soon as she had begun to move Beckett felt him reaching her g-spot and she was a little startled it had happened so fast. But she became a little frantic as the pleasure from that was intense already and she tried to stop. "Rick…" she started to say before he luckily helped her and she moved off him. Turning to him she felt a little embarrassed but when her husband looked relieved she felt slightly better though frustrated at the interrupted pleasure she'd been feeling.

Castle, running his hand over his wife's hair gently, said, "I guess that one was a bust."

"I love how you say that while completely ogling my chest," Beckett shot back. When he looked up at her she couldn't help smiling at him and pulled him to her gently before they began to kiss. They were involved in another two before stopping and she told him, "We should get back to it."

"If you're so sure…" Castle began. When she rolled her eyes, he leaned over and kissed her, doing so gently before they slowly parted. "Kate," he murmured before he kissed her once more.

Beckett was slightly startled when her husband started to lay her down and she quickly stopped him. "You don't remember what I said before?" she asked when he looked at her in confusion.

It quickly came back to him and Castle hurried to turn her around onto her hands and knees though she was already moving on her own. He was startled when she immediately went down onto her arms and watched her turn her head, looking back at him. He couldn't stop himself and he gently cupped her ass before he moved to get behind her fully. He slid very slowly inside of her, hearing her gasping out in pleasure before he was fully inside of her. Breathing out as he stayed still to just feel her he murmured, " _You feel amazing love_."

" _You do too. Move, please_ ," Beckett begged him. He did so shortly after and she cried out heavily in reaction as he was deep and already the friction was affecting her. She was soon after moving with him, doing her best to angle her hips down enough to aide him in his search for her g-spot. She soon felt him brushing against it and the second that she did her fingers were digging into the bed, clutching at the sheet tightly. She dimly thought she was screaming to her husband, speaking to him though for some reason she couldn't make out her own words. Her joy in the way he was making her whole body feel as if it was burning was almost too much. She only had a moment to think that over before her climax struck her and roughly. She knew she was screaming, that time her husband's name, before her voice cut off abruptly and she was lost to the unconsciousness that took over in her extreme ecstasy.

Castle was lucky to have her calling his name as it let him know he needed to stop and helped him in getting her onto her back as she passed out. He held her closely, kissing at her shoulders as he waited for her to come to.

Opening her eyes slowly Beckett could feel the way her body was throbbing and she sighed saying, "I never last that long."

"No but believe me I don't mind it," Castle told her earnestly, caressing her face tenderly. He was startled when she stopped him and took his hand, drawing it down to her sex. He got the idea immediately, reaching for her clit which he gently touched at first. A second later he was once again startled when his wife forced him to touch her harder. Almost gulping at how arousing that was Castle rubbed at her forcefully, watching her as she was arching her back immediately. He couldn't help himself and he reached further down, slipping his fingers within her. He moved a little hard before he stopped when he realized she was still incredibly damp. "You-" he started to say.

"Fuck me Rick, please," Beckett begged him, her voice desperate. When he immediately began to move she was pleased but then distracted as he literally rammed in her. "Oh god! Please, hurry I want to come with you in me," she moaned as he was still.

"So do I," Castle grunted hard before he lunged his legs against her. When her legs were wrapped around his waist he proceeded to move, swearing in Irish as his wife cried out at the instant shock that passed between their coupled bodies. He gathered up speed as fast as he could, wanting to finally orgasm himself as his body had been denied it twice. He leaned down, when he saw Beckett had raised herself up on her arms, and kissed her deeply before their tongues were tangling hungrily. After a while he rubbed against her repeatedly before they shortly after needed to breathe. He was dismayed to find that the pleasure running through him from her was becoming too much too quickly. He didn't mind the pleasure but he knew she would need a little more time and he also knew he couldn't stop or slow down. So with that he reached in between them, seeing his wife looking at him instantly as she watched him.

Her breath pausing for a moment as her husband's touch made her breasts ache Beckett tried to tell him that she was close but realized her body was doing that for her. When he reached for her clit in between them she cried out for a moment before she was telling him, "Rick! Oh… I'm going to come… please, come with me! I need to feel you! Please… don't stop!" as her climax was heavy going through her, waves repeatedly searching her out until her entire body was throbbing and on fire because of her husband. Shortly after she had begun she wasn't surprised to realize that Castle was following her and she held onto him as tightly as she could, feeling his pleasure while he began to chant her name while he thrust crazily within her.

With a few more thrusts Castle relaxed as much as he could without crushing his wife and he forced his head to move so he could brush his lips against hers. "Goddess," he breathed before moving away to look at her.

A slow smile spread across Beckett's face and she said, "You should show me."

Taken aback slightly Castle then realized what she wanted and with a returning smile said, "How long?"

"Always," Beckett breathed before they kissed and soon began to move together once more to come as one yet again.

* * *

Sighing Castle ran his hand up and down his wife's bare back before he said, "How're you feeling?"

"Right now?" Beckett asked, pressed against him as tightly as she could manage. She felt instead of heard him nod before she sighed herself and turned to lay on her back saying, "Full."

"Again?" Castle asked since he'd asked her the same question after their second bout and had gotten the same answer.

"You're surprised," Beckett replied with a smile.

"Slightly," Castle said, smiling widely at her before he kissed her deeply. When they parted she caressed his cheek and he said, "I kept forgetting to ask, were you having trouble with the first position? Moving I mean."

"No, you were right on my g-spot," Beckett said.

"From the start?" Castle asked in surprise.

"From the start," Beckett replied. She brushed her lips against his jaw when he looked startled and told him, "Don't underestimate yourself."

"I guess I shouldn't," Castle replied, kissing her. They were soon doing so hungrily, shifting around until he was atop her. "I love you Kate," he told her seriously.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett replied before she brushed her lips against him.

"One more time?" Castle asked, feeling the excitement rising inside of him at the look she gave him. It was desirous and eager at the same time and his heart was pounding heavily as he knew the answer he'd get from her.

"Not the last," Beckett said before they worked together to get his erection in her.

Breathing out a little hard once he was set Castle brushed his lips to hers and said, " _Always love_."

" _Always_ ," Beckett moaned as he began to move with her. She responded in turn and could feel the delight building already as the friction was rough almost immediately.

Both worked as fast as they could to feed their addiction for each other, kissing and caressing as they knew the other liked. They were so involved that nothing could have stopped them and nothing did while they worked the building pleasure up. They kept going until they could break together and feel their love physically as they were so fervent to do repeatedly while the night continued without their notice.


	26. Here Without You

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Loved getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so I'll go straight to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (I was expecting you to comment on my mention of The Babysitter's Club and I wasn't wrong, lol. But yeah, they were the best books way back then, I used to read them myself. And it's nice to see that you're glad Julia is into it. I'm not surprised you think the case is sort of odd after what went on, though also not surprised that you're sure the answer is in their grasp since they've looked at a lot by now, lol. And you made a good point that they just have to look at all the evidence again. It made me laugh a bit to see you calling the love scene Caskett's endeavors though you do make a point with that word, lol. But I am glad you enjoyed it and not surprised in the least that you said a new baby, I was expecting that. Happy to see that you thought the flashback was so adorable, though I thought you might like it. And I'm really pleased that you love the relationship Beckett and Julia have since I love writing it. And of course, nice to see that you thought it was great writing as usual!)

TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought it was good writing for Julia and Eliza in the chapter. And I'm so pleased that you liked the love scenes at the end that you gave a wow for Castle and Beckett since I wanted that to be good!) and

vetgirlmx (I was very happy seeing that you thought this chapter was a very nice change of pace. And yeah, I kinda wanted to lead on with the station before they went home in the end, lol. And I did have to laugh a bit at you commenting that the case was still a mess but you are right about that. I wasn't surprised you thought the killer has been trying to mislead them and that it's been working. But yeah, they have to check out all the leads so that's more work but that's what I wanted to put in, lol. But I'm not surprised you're thinking the killer will make a mistake soon, in real life they will do that I've noticed. And I'm glad you thought the way their evening went was exactly what they needed since I wanted something that would be relaxing and let the two unwind after their work. And I think it was interesting you noticed that the girls know how it's important what their parents do since I do try to convey that with them. I am glad that you saw they enjoyed and appreciated the extra attention too. And great you thought it was really cute that Eliza was making her own play dates with Dani, I wanted to convey she was getting a little impatient for her to grow up so she's just doing it as you mentioned. I'm so happy that you loved the flashback as usual. And I'm not surprised that you think it's weird when Beckett refers to Castle as her boyfriend 'cause I do myself. I'm so used to writing husband that in the flashbacks before they were married I tend to slip up and write husband instead of boyfriend, lol, so you're not alone in that way but I'm not sure about other readers. I'm very pleased that you enjoyed this chapter a lot and that you can't wait to see what's next which you don't need to do anymore!).

Thank you so much for the reviews, I enjoyed reading them greatly and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Mr. Bellamy_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _Memory Almost Full_.

Here Without You

Watching her husband as he was lathering his face with his shaving cream Beckett said, "I don't trust you."

Glancing at her Castle commented, "You'll have the razor."

"I'm still naked Rick; at your insistence," Beckett told him as he stepped up to her where she was on a towel on the counter between their sinks.

"So am I," Castle replied, wrapping his arms around her. "At my own insistence."

"Pervert," Beckett breathed out before they were kissing. She held him tightly, still feeling her body throbbing from their lovemaking in the shower they'd taken not too long before, and they slowly parted. She opened her eyes to look at her husband and laughed softly saying, "Good thing you didn't finish covering your face."

"Oh, that's right I forgot," Castle said leaning past her to look at his reflection in the mirror. He saw he'd only managed one cheek so he covered the rest of his face, noticing his wife was looking down on him. "Should I throw that back to you?"

"You could, it does apply to me right this second," Beckett commented. When his eyes slightly widened she then told him, "Do you honestly think I can help it?"

"Is it helping you out at all right now?" Castle asked her.

"Shh," Beckett told him easily, turning her attention to his face as she began to shave his right cheek first.

Though he was heavily aroused by then Castle kept quiet as his wife had advised him, watching her while she was working over his face. When she had finished he took care of his upper lip himself and rinsed off while she got off the counter. "So-" he started to say as he turned to her. He was a little taken aback when his wife threw her arms around his neck and they were soon kissing. He groaned and pulled her to his body, touching every inch of her back that he could until he realized they were literally grinding against each other. "What do we do now?" he asked; which was what he'd been about to ask before and applied to that moment coincidentally.

"I have an idea," Beckett replied before he was suddenly lifting her up, setting her on the counter again. They kissed once more before they slowly parted and she murmured, "We don't have much time."

"I know and we'll make it," Castle replied. He kissed at her neck though her hair was covering it and then moved around her body as he began to kneel in front of her. He heard her gasp as he passed her breasts and then tongued each nipple to hear her moan. Once he'd done that he moved even further until he had reached her sex and because she was leaning back he was able to easily press his lips all around it. He wasn't surprised when she jerked slightly in response to the touch of his tongue against her swollen clit. He groaned a little as she grabbed onto the back of his head but focused on what he was doing, rolling his tongue and even sucking at the nub for a while until he abruptly pulled away.

Beckett was going to protest that when her husband rubbed her clit with his fingers, making her moan deeply in pleasure before he kissed her. She was moving with him; as she'd been for some time; and when his fingers slipped down to her entrance and just barely went into her she was crying out. Parting from their kisses they'd been exchanging she began to orgasm and then cried out his name as he helped her ride out her ecstasy. She was also holding onto him with her left hand, grasping at his back and trying desperately to withstand what he was making her feel until everything seemed to abruptly stop.

Holding his wife tightly as she recovered Castle kissed her gently, waiting slightly impatiently for her to recover before she smiled a little at him. "Good?" he asked.

To answer him Beckett kissed him deeply before she pulled away and said, "I think so."

"Okay, so-" Castle started to say before she covered his mouth with her hand. "Are you not going to let me talk?" he asked her teasingly once he'd moved it away.

"I might," Beckett said. "No, come here, we don't have much time," she told him after getting down off the counter. She pulled him with her out to their bed and pulled him down after her so he was on top of her. Even though they were lying on the bed across it she didn't stop, instigating a heavy kiss with him which he readily responded to. She wasn't sure when he fixed them both on the bed but was aware when he turned them around so she was above him. "You're leaving this to me?" she asked him, brushing her lips to his.

"I trust you," Castle replied. When she smiled at him they leaned into each other at the same time before they slowly parted. He was going to say something but he was cut off when she grasped his erection gently. A second later she was running her hand up and down very deliberately and he tilted his head back, hissing heavily at the pleasure that was quick to strike him and fully. "I'm not going to last," he warned her, nearly having to shove the words out of his mouth as he was beginning to move with her.

"I know, don't worry," Beckett assured him. When he nodded and then couldn't seem to stop she smiled and leaned over, kissing him lovingly on the lips before she pulled away. She watched her hand then, using the other to brush against his skin above it before she cupped him underneath his member. He was literally panting in reaction and she continued touching him until she could see he was fighting with himself; poised at the edge. In one swift move; done many times before; she lay on the middle of the bed and brought her husband with her, helping him sink smoothly into her.

Almost instantly Castle was climaxing, calling his wife's name in his pleasure as he was thrusting wildly within her. He was aware that he was on his own at that moment but she was caressing him, his hair and back and he tried to angle his hips so he could pleasure her too. But when he stopped moving and was almost collapsed on his wife he whispered an apology as he knew that he'd been unable to do it.

"Shh," Beckett whispered to him lovingly, kissing his temple. "It would have taken you too long to work me up in time, I expected that."

Sighing Castle pulled back so he could look down at her and said, "You're amazing love."

"You're not too bad either," Beckett told him, caressing his face lovingly. They kissed tenderly and would have continued to a second one when they both paused. "I think that's my phone."

Cursing Castle moved away from his wife and said, "Really wish we could have longer."

"We have Tahiti coming up," Beckett reminded him.

Letting out a mock suffering sigh Castle said as they got off the bed, "Fine, but the second we get there I'm gluing you to the bed and not letting you back up for… days."

Beckett smiled; since her husband would say that about their trip and their anniversaries; and she asked, "What are you gluing me to the bed with?"

" _Mé féin_ ," Castle told her seriously. " _Well… myself and my_ -" he said to add to his answer of myself.

" _I get it_ ," Beckett replied to stop him there. "You learned the slang too quickly."

"I'll remind you that's the first thing you learn in a language," Castle told her as he was picking out his clothes in the closet.

Beckett shrugged and went back out to their bed before she dressed but just as she was about to pull on her blouse she felt her husband coming up to her. At first, she thought he was still naked but realized that he was partially dressed. "Rick," she said firmly.

Sighing Castle let her go after kissing the side of her neck and he went to his clothes on the end of the bed close to her. "Back to the case?" he asked her.

"Not quite yet," Beckett replied, smiling at him. "We do have the girls of course."

"You know what surprised me," Castle said as they walked into the bathroom once they were both dressed. "Julia seemed to be fine when we told her she couldn't follow us."

"I thought the same," Beckett replied with a slight nod as she was brushing her hair. "I get the feeling she would still ask us but when she's older."

"I thought that too," Castle replied. He sighed and said, "She takes after her dear old dad."

Beckett glanced at him; as he had spoken that last bit with a British accent; and then told him, "Most likely and just like you she'll stick with us so she might end up the third consultant to the Hamptons PD."

"Do you think they have anything?" Castle asked her as he had finished and was waiting for her.

Beckett took a deep breath before she said, "If he hasn't texted us then… I don't know, he could be waiting."

"He did tell us to come at eight thirty," Castle commented. When she nodded he took her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom as she was finished. "But until then how are we tackling this?" he asked her when they were at the door and he unlocked it.

"Wake up the girls," Beckett told him. "I'll get some oatmeal this time."

"Good idea," Castle replied. "When I come down I'll get some eggs too."

"I can get them," Beckett said firmly.

Though he wanted to protest Castle nodded and they shared a quick kiss before going together to Julia's room first. He motioned his wife to go to the bed, murmuring to her, "They prefer you to wake them up; I'm too rough."

"No, you're not," Beckett said in exasperation before she sat on the edge of the bed next to their oldest. "Julia wake up sweetie, time for school," she said as she carefully shook her daughter's shoulder.

"Mommy," the girl sighed as she woke up quickly. "It's not morning yet."

"It's raining but it is morning," Castle assured her.

"Morning Mommy, Daddy," Julia said after she'd sat up and smiled at them. "Morning Macca," she said, scratching the dog's head.

"We're going to wake your sister up," Castle said, waiting for his wife to give her a kiss on the cheek before he was doing the same. "And your mom is getting breakfast today so let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, I'll come to help you Mommy," Julia said.

"Make sure you get your hair brushed," Beckett said with a smile before she and her husband left. When they went into Eliza's room they saw that Rita was under the covers, their youngest's arms around the dog. "I almost don't want to wake her up," she told her husband.

"Me too," Castle replied with a smile.

"Boo!" Eliza cried, jumping up.

"Eliza!" Beckett said in surprise before she began to laugh. "I guess I don't have to wake you up."

"When did you?" Castle asked as Beckett picked their youngest out of the bed.

"Now, I heard you talking to Jules," Eliza said. "It's raining."

"I know but maybe tomorrow we can walk to school," Beckett said as she knew why the little girl had said that. "For now, your daddy is going to help you; I'll be making breakfast."

"Kay, I'll be good," Eliza said, kissing her mother's cheek before Beckett kissed hers and she was handed over to her father.

"I'm glad to hear that," Beckett said with a smile. She kissed her husband's cheek and went over to the stairs, startled by Julia stepping up to her doorway. "It looks like you and your sister are trying to scare me," she told her.

"Sorry, I wanted to make sure you were here. I'm ready to help," Julia told her. She smiled when her mother touched her hair and checked her uniform and she told her, "I brushed my hair and got dressed."

"Let's go," Beckett said in response as she took her oldest's hand.

Inside the kitchen Julia let Macca out into the back from the door in the kitchen and she was about to close the door again when she paused. "Hurry Rita," she called. She smiled as the Hound rushed out after her brother and she said to her mother, "What are we gonna do when they come back in?"  
"Hopefully your daddy is back downstairs to dry them off," Beckett commented.

"Okay," Julia replied before she hurried over to her mother. As her mother set her to stir the oatmeal she said, "Remember all the times we did this?"

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile. "We needed to eat breakfast before you went to school."

Julia smiled and said, "The best ones were when there wasn't school."

"I agree," Beckett replied. She was making the eggs then and she couldn't help her mind wandering to when she and Julia had had Castle over for the meal, a little before Halloween and when Julia was a little more used to him spending time with them. She was smiling a little at the memory, moving around the kitchen as she and Castle had done with Julia that morning six years ago.

* * *

 _"What would you like for breakfast Julia?" Castle asked the little girl once he'd set her down on one of the chairs at the kitchen island._

 _"Candy?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _Laughing for a moment Castle said, "I think you're thinking of Halloween; that's next week. And not too long either but your mom would not be happy if we had candy."_

 _"And I wouldn't eat it either," Beckett told them as she walked out to the kitchen. "We'll have omelets."_

 _"Yeah?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"We're going to the zoo," Beckett reminded her. "You need your energy," she said._

 _"So do we," Castle said, leaning over and kissing at her neck which was exposed by her ponytail._

 _Julia watched them and then said, "Do you like the zoo?"_

 _"Of course, I went there a million times with Alexis," Castle answered._

 _"Lots?" Julia asked, her eyes wide at that number._

 _"I doubt that many exactly but a lot," Beckett said as she was cracking eggs into a bowl. She heard her boyfriend groan and looked over at him seeing that he was looking through the fridge. "She likes sausage," she told him._

 _"Should still have bacon," Castle said under his breath so Julia wouldn't hear him._

 _"Make them Castle, she wants them," Beckett said a little firmly before she began to whisk the eggs with a fork._

 _Watching her mother and Castle cooking together Julia said, "You should make breakfast every day."_

 _"Sometimes I'm not here though," Castle said, cooking the sausages in front of her._

 _"Stay for the night," Julia said simply._

 _Glancing at his girlfriend in surprise Castle said, "Would you mind?"_

 _"No but you have to let me sleep in Mommy's bed," Julia said firmly. "You sleep in my bed when."_

 _"When what?" Castle asked in slight confusion._

 _"I think she means when you do that," Beckett told him with a smile._

 _"Oh… okay," Castle replied. "I think we can manage with that."_

 _"No, sweetie Castle can't stay that much but he'll be here as often as he can," Beckett said to them both though she was looking at her daughter._

 _"As he wants to," Castle said, looking at her seriously._

 _"Alright," Beckett said, smiling then. She was startled when he then took her wrist after she'd finished a smaller omelet; Julia's; and pulled her close. "We-" she began._

 _Julia squirmed slightly as the two kissed but she continued to watch them, fascinated by what they were doing as she couldn't remember seeing that before she and her mother had been taken to the house that was white. Even though it wasn't the first time she'd seen her mother and Castle kissing since then she still wondered about it. When they parted and looked at her she smiled broadly and said, "Hi."_

 _"Want to do me a favor?" Beckett asked, trying to change the subject though she could feel her lips were swollen at that moment._

 _"What?" Julia asked interestedly as Castle dished the last sausage._

 _"Will you put out the napkins and forks on the table?" Beckett asked._

 _"Yeah," Julia said, nodding her head eagerly._

 _"Come here," Beckett said as her boyfriend took over with the omelets. She went to her daughter and helped her down before they set the table together, putting down a pitcher of orange juice and getting Julia some milk before she set out the sausages and Castle put the omelets at their respective places. When they'd washed their hands, they gathered together and began to eat, watching her daughter closely as she expected her to start talking at any second. She was right and shortly after she'd thought that the little girl was speaking eagerly after taking a sip of milk._

 _"I wanna see the bears and the monkeys and pen'gins," Julia told them. "Can I?"_

 _"I think we can manage," Beckett replied with a smile. "But we need to go first."_

 _"Yeah," Julia said, taking her fork that her mother had gotten a piece of her omelet on. She ate and then listened to her mother and Castle talking about what they would do after and she squirmed before she burst out, "Horsies?"_

 _"You want to go on the carousel?" Beckett asked. When her daughter nodded she looked at her boyfriend and said, "We can go before lunch."_

 _"You're not going to eat in the zoo?" Castle asked._

 _"It depends," Beckett said after thinking for a moment and recalling the last time she'd gone to the zoo with Julia how long it'd taken to go through the children's zoo. "I was going to ask will Alexis mind going with us on that?"_

 _Gasping Julia asked, "Can she come?"_

 _"That's up to her," Castle began. "But," he said as the little girl looked disappointed. "She does like the carousel so she'll probably go with us."_

 _"I hope so," Julia said seriously. She ate her last bite of omelet and told her mother, "I'm done."_

 _"Okay, take your plate to the sink," Beckett replied, standing with her. "And then go get your camera."_

 _"I will," Julia said, putting up the plate on the counter with her mother's help. She hugged her tightly and said, "Thank you Mommy."_

 _"For what sweetie?" Beckett said, embracing her back as Castle walked up to them._

 _"For the zoo… and the horsies… and…" Julia said before she trailed off._

 _"We're not sure what we're doing yet," Castle commented. "But your mom knows you'll enjoy it."_

 _"Yeah," Julia replied with a shy giggle before she skipped to the table, grabbed her Stitch doll and made her way to her room._

 _"She does like you," Beckett told her boyfriend as she began to wash the plates._

 _"Don't worry, I can tell," Castle assured her. "It'll just take her a while to be comfortable with me."_

 _Beckett wanted to comment on the fact but she knew that he was right before she said, "What else should we do?"_

 _"Well," Castle began as he dried the last plate for her. "We could head to a bookstore."_

 _"We could," Beckett replied. "And come back here to let her play."_

 _"You didn't want to go anywhere else?" Castle said as he waited for her to finish drying her hands. The second he did he grabbed her wrists carefully, pulling her to him closely enough that he could wrap his arms around her. She'd been about to speak when he lowered his head, kissing her deeply._

 _Though she knew Julia was going to walk out and see them Beckett couldn't stop herself, wrapping her arms around him and holding onto him tightly. As their tongues began to tangle she pressed a little harder against him before they slowly parted and she opened her eyes to look at him._

 _"Come to the loft," Castle breathed to her._

 _"Okay," Beckett said, unable to really find an argument against that. "But we have to come back," she said, coming back to herself._

 _"I know but I'm not letting you stay for that long," Castle replied. When she smiled at him and shook her head he captured her lips again but didn't stay for too long as he could hear Julia starting to run down the hall to the living room._

 _"I'm not surprised," Beckett said in response to him. She let him go and turned to her daughter asking, "Are you ready sweetie?"_

 _"Yeah! I have my camera," Julia said, holding it up a little more to show them._

 _"Then we should go," Castle said, going after his girlfriend and the little girl to the entry. "Before the animals get tired of waiting to see you Julia and leave."_

 _With her daughter giggling Beckett got her into her coat and picked her up so they could go, shaking her head and smiling at her boyfriend._

* * *

 _"I honestly thought she was going to need a nap," Castle said as they watched the little girl running over to the windows as soon as they'd entered his loft._

 _"You raised me Dad," Alexis commented. "You should know kids have some untapped well of energy."_

 _"And they call on that?" Castle asked his daughter in amusement._

 _"Look at her," Alexis said with a smile as they turned to watch Beckett bring her daughter back to them._

 _"Maybe we should take her over to the park," Beckett said._

 _"I can take her," Alexis said._

 _"I think you might want to wait," Castle then said as there was a rumble of thunder and they looked at the window to see the rain striking it._

 _"Looks like we have to do something else to calm her down," Beckett said as Castle took the coat from her to hang in the closet. "Julia," she started to say with a sigh as her daughter was trying to do a head stand on the sofa._

 _"It's okay," Castle told her quickly. "Alexis will watch her."_

 _"You're not worried about your couch?" Beckett pointed out._

 _"It's fine," Castle said, walking with her over to their daughters._

 _"What do we do now?" Julia asked, crawling across the couch to her mother so she could sit on her lap._

 _"You can play," Beckett replied. "But one of your games you brought with us okay?"_

 _"I wanna go outside," Julia protested._

 _"Out in the rain?" Castle asked._

 _"Yeah, wanna stomp on puddles," Julia said with glee._

 _"She sounded evil," Castle said under his breath. He smiled when his girlfriend smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand and then said to the little girl, "Why don't we stay in today, play some games. Did your mom ever teach you to play go fish?"_

 _"Yeah," Julia said. She then watched interestedly as Castle stood up and walked over to his office before he came out with a deck of cards. "We can play now?" she asked eagerly._

 _"After I make some cocoa," Castle commented. When he looked at his girlfriend she nodded at him and he went over to the kitchen after handing Julia the deck of cards._

 _"Before we start, let me show you a short game I learned," Alexis told the little girl before getting down on her knees at the coffee table._

 _With Julia occupied Beckett went to Castle and said, "It turned out nice."_

 _"Today? Yeah it did," Castle replied. "Any plans for tomorrow?"_

 _"Help me with brunch," Beckett said the second he'd stopped talking._

 _"I think I can do that," Castle said. He smiled when she playfully rolled her eyes at him and leaned over, kissing her gently. He then turned his attention back to the cocoa so they could return to their daughters and play._

* * *

"I hope you two enjoy your day at school," Martha told the girls as they were in the foyer with their parents.

"We will, even though we gotta play inside," Julia said, looking at her little sister.

"And go in the car," Eliza said.

"It's almost winter sweetheart," Castle told her, walking over to them after putting on his coat.

"Are you gonna see the horsies?" Eliza asked him, raising her arms to him.

Picking her up Castle said, "We are but not for too long."

"We do need to head over to the station," Beckett replied.

"I hope you finish the case today," Julia told her mother as she rejoined them.

"Me too," Beckett said. "I'm ready for our vacation."

"Tired of investigating?" Martha asked.

"No, I think she wants to go where it's warm," Castle said. "Since that's how I'm feeling myself."

"He's right," Beckett said with a smile as the girls went over their grandmother. "But that's still a while away and you two have school."

"Have fun," Martha told the girls. "I'll see you when your school is over Eliza and Julia we'll see you at your dance class."

"You have fun too Gram," Eliza told her.

"I'll see what I can get up to," Martha told her.

"Bye Gram, see you later," Julia said, laughing a little still with her sister.

"We'll head straight to the stables Mother," Castle said.

"Go, just let me know when you're coming back," Martha said.

"We'll try to make it to the dance class," Beckett told her mother in law. With that she took Eliza's hand as Castle got their oldest and they headed to the garage since they'd said goodbye to the dogs first.

"I wish I can see you when I finish school," Eliza told her father as he was setting her in her car seat.

"Let's hope that we can make it in time," Castle told her.

"Cross my fingers," Eliza said seriously.

Laughing Castle kissed her cheek and looked over at Julia, seeing her seat belt was secure. "We're ready," he told his wife.

"I know. But Rick…" Beckett told him.

"It's hard not to let her hope," Castle replied as he knew what she was talking about. "And who knows, once that list is on a computer it might go twenty-times faster."

"Twenty-times?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Twenty," Castle said, pretending to nod seriously before he laughed as she pushed him away playfully.

"Come on," Beckett said laughingly, going over to the driver's seat as he went around. She drove them to the school, not surprised she had to park a little away from it as there were many cars already there.

"Hurry," Castle told the girls as he held the umbrella up for them since Julia had helped her sister out of her seat. Beckett came around to them and he said, "I should have waited for you."

"It's alright," Beckett said quickly so they could walk up to the school. When they were inside the elementary school she saw Rebecca with Mari and she called out to them so they'd see them.

"Hey, glad you guys made it through the rain," Rebecca said, smiling at the girls.

"Where's Dani?" Eliza asked as Julia and Mari were embracing.

"At home, it was a little too cold and wet for her to come," Rebecca replied. "But she had a lot of fun yesterday with you."

"Did she say?" Eliza said hopefully.

"She did, she kept saying Izzy," Rebecca said. "So that means she did have fun."

"How do you know?" Eliza asked, looking a little confused.

"It's the way she says it," Mari told her, hugging her quickly. "And she was super happy. We have to think of what to play inside at recess," she said then.

"Wait until you get to recess," Rebecca told her daughter.

"We will," Julia said as Mari blanched a little in response to her mother.

"I'm taking her up now; we'll see you guys," Rebecca said to Castle and Beckett.

"Sure, will you guys be at the dance class?" Beckett asked her friend.

"I think so, we might bundle Ruby up and bring her for that," Rebecca replied.

They all said goodbye to the two before Castle and Beckett took their daughters into Eliza's classroom.

After her coat was off the little girl hugged her sister saying, "I can't think."

"Of anything," Julia finished for her before they both started to giggle. "We'll do that at recess." She pretended to look at their parents in apprehension and then whispered to her, "They'll be mad if we don't pay attention."

With a laugh Eliza nodded and said, "Kay, have fun."

"You too, see you at recess," Julia said before she then watched her hugging their parents.

Crying out as her mother picked her up Eliza wrapped her arms tightly around her neck before she said, "I'll miss you Mommy. And if we have lunch can I say where we go eat?"

"Maybe," Beckett said with a smile. "Have fun and pay attention."

"I will," Eliza said before they shared a kiss.

"What your mom said," Castle told her jokingly as he took the little girl from her mother.

"I will Daddy," Eliza replied, pretending to be annoyed. She then giggled and kissed his cheek before sharing a kiss. "Bye," she said to them, waving after Castle had set her down.

"Can we say goodbye at the bottom of the stairs?" Julia asked her parents after they left the room; making sure Eliza was set with her friends.

"Sure," Beckett said, not surprised at the display of independence. She hugged her and said, "We're not going to repeat so what we told your sister we told you as well."

"She's right," Castle replied. "But if we don't catch you at the dance class then be careful with that marathon."

"I will, be safe," Julia said, looking back and forth between them.

"Believe me we'll be careful," Castle assured her.

"Bye!" Julia said before hurrying up the stairs as she knew it was almost time for the bell to ring.

"Come on, I don't want to leave through the office," Castle told his wife before he took her hand. They left the building, pressed close under his umbrella before they were in the car and he said, "Straight to the stables?"

Beckett opened her mouth to reply when she heard her husband's phone ringing. "Brad?" she said.

"It is," Castle said when he had his phone out of his pocket. "Brad?" he asked his friend for a greeting.

"You two need to get here," the chief replied. "We have a break."

Without a word Castle set aside his phone and drove away from the school, trying to go fast but not so much he'd hydroplane in the rain though it was beginning to ease up. When they were at the station he and his wife did their best to go inside together without getting wet. "What is it?" he asked when Brad was there as soon as they'd stepped inside.

"Fletcher," he replied simply, leading them over to the interview room.

"Chief," the woman said when they stepped inside. "I'm so sorry," she began. "My fiancée told me this only an hour ago over breakfast."

"Sit, please," Brad said, knowing what she had to say wouldn't quite help if she was frantic. "My officer told me you had something pertaining to the case."

"Yes, but it was what she saw," Fletcher replied. "According to her about four months ago something came in the mail from Cora."

"What exactly?" Castle asked as they all looked at the woman in surprise.

"She said it was a letter," Fletcher said. "And there was a check."

"And was there anything in that check?" Brad prompted when the woman didn't continue.

"It just said services rendered and my name," Fletcher replied. "I called him after she told me; she had thrown away the letter back when it arrived. She thought it was just a prank and didn't take it seriously," she then admitted guiltily. "After my fiancée told me about that and when I confronted him he said he didn't write the check. But I knew his writing already; remember on my supposed check from Ellie yesterday? The way the a was in an oval shape? My fiancée said it was the exact same as the check yesterday; she saw that one too."

"And after that?" Beckett asked.

"He hung up and wouldn't answer when I tried calling him back," Fletcher said softly.

"Alright you need to stay here," Brad told the woman. "I'll have an officer keep an eye on you."

"I'm not setting you up," Fletcher protested.

"We know already," Beckett said. "It's a precaution."

Leaving the woman behind Castle said, "Did you get Cora's name anywhere in those lists?"

"Hutchinson told me she spotted it after I got here," Brad replied as he was motioning for Rice and Hill to follow them. "But I couldn't call you, Fletcher got here before I could do that."

"We'll follow," Beckett said, getting in their car out in the parking lot, the rain having stopped.

"Where are we going?" Castle said as they went after the two squad cars.

"Likely the nursery," Beckett said when his phone rang. "What?" she asked the chief who'd been calling.

"They just got a call in to the station," Brad began. "Cora's on the roof of the old grain mill, he's threatening to jump."

"Why the hell would he do that?" Castle said after his wife had hung up. "All we have is a letter that doesn't exist anymore."

"Guilt," Beckett suggested though she wasn't sure about that. She then shook her head and said, "Hopefully he won't go through with it in the end."

Castle nodded grimly before they were nearing the mill; an old building from the eighteen hundreds that was being renovated. "I was hoping that call was a joke," he said, seeing the man on top of the three-story structure.

"Me too," Beckett nodded before they got out quickly.

"Cora," Brad called through a megaphone he'd had in his car. "Cora come down please and speak with us."

"You're here to arrest me," the man shouted down to them. "I'm not going!"

"We just want to talk," Brad said before he realized the megaphone was being taken out of his hands.

"I've trained," Beckett told him simply before she managed to get it out of his grasp. "Cora, we have no idea why you're up there. You need to tell us."

"You know already!" the man yelled. "That's why you're here."

"We're only here because we got called in," Brad said, getting the megaphone back. "We'd like to talk to you and find out what's going on."

"Bullshit!" Cora shouted down to them. "All I did was for… I didn't care about Eileen but everyone was talking about her. I knew she had to go because-" he cut himself off and shook his head, grasping it between his hands and yelling as loud as he could.

"Who were you doing all of this for?" Brad asked.

"It doesn't matter," Cora replied, shaking his head. He looked around himself then and before anyone could speak ran over the edge of the building.

"Don't-" Castle started to say as his wife gasped and he turned before the man could hit the ground.

Brad called for an ambulance over his walkie-talkie as he ran with Castle and Beckett to the man. "Oh god he's still alive," he said as he saw Cora was still breathing though his legs were bent at awkward angles and there was blood coming out of his mouth.

Taking the blanket that Hill had brought from his squad car Beckett covered the man before she noticed his mouth was moving.

Noticing that Castle was going to speak when Cora gave a shuddering breath and was still. He reached down to his wife, pulling her up and away from the body before he said, "Did he speak."

"Just barely," Beckett said, looking at the chief.

"I could make out what he said," Brad replied. "We need to wait for the ambulance but I can get things started."

Watching him walk away from them slightly as Rice came up to stand guard over the body Castle walked enough away to say to his wife privately, "You think it's possible?"

"It is," Beckett replied. "Though I'd like to know why exactly."

"Me too," Castle said as they turned towards the road, the ambulance racing down to them. "But we'll find out soon enough."


	27. Here Without You (Part 2)

It was quiet, a faint breeze in the aftermath of the storm blowing across and rustling the trees before it was disrupted by the sound of footsteps down the aisle.

"Mrs. Cora?" a voice said, making the woman look up.

"Chief Davis," the woman said with a sigh. "What can I help you with? I told you before that I have an alibi for the day before yesterday."

"That's not why we're here," Brad replied. "Is this your motorcycle?"

Though she didn't want to Mrs. Cora turned her head and gave a brief glance to the photo the chief was holding. "I don't own a bike; neither does my husband," she told him and the two with him.

"Oh, you do," Brad replied. "We were able to confiscate it not too long ago. Interesting modifications you made and according to your neighbors, it used to be blue and silver not green."

"You were in my house…" Mrs. Cora began before she trailed off seeing the paper in his hand. "It belonged to a friend of his and-" she started.

"It's yours," Castle said. "We spoke to your neighbors and they've seen you riding it; back when it was black; it's gone through a lot of color changes."

"Get out," Mrs. Cora said, a snarl on her face.  
"Turn around," Brad replied easily. "Turn around Mrs. Cora you're under arrest for the murder of Eileen McGale and Frank Fletcher."

Expecting the woman to put up a fight Beckett was startled when she allowed Brad to handcuff her until she looked at her face. She sighed as they walked after the chief to his squad car and said, "I wonder if she'll talk."

"I saw that too," Castle said with a nod before they went over to their own car. She drove them back to the station and they were both quiet, both thinking over what might happen when they got to interrogation. As soon as Mrs. Cora was in the room he asked Brad, "What are we doing?"

"You'll come in with me," Brad told them both. "Better we outnumber her since she obviously likes to be in control."

"You'll be walking around?" Castle asked.

"Best thing to do," Brad said, tapping his uniform he was wearing that day. He nodded to the room and together they walked into it with him last to close the door. "Mrs. Cora," he said simply.

"I might call for a lawyer," the woman replied.

"Oh, go ahead," Brad said.

"This is just a formality," Castle commented.

"We were hoping to hear of a motive for the murders but I guess we'll have to make do with all the evidence," Beckett finished before she and her husband started to stand up.

"Wait," Mrs. Cora said with a heavy sigh. "You think I killed… whoever you said they were. Why would I do that?"

"We were wondering about that ourselves," Castle began, he and Beckett sitting again.

"And really there was only one thing after talking to your neighbors," Brad said, remaining behind the two.

"Your husband," Beckett finished.

"And what do those two have to do with Robbie?" Mrs. Cora said slightly laughingly. "I know McGale was engaged to him but she broke it off long ago and I don't even know who the other person is."

Brad set down pictures of the victims in front of the woman saying, "Now you do for sure." When he got no reaction from the woman he pressed his hand to the back of Beckett's shoulder as a signal to her.

"But we're aware that you're not the actual killer," she began. "You got your husband to do the work, even with Fletcher though that was your bike."

"Maybe it was his idea," Castle said, realizing what the chief wanted as he'd seen his friend touch Beckett's shoulder. "It seems more likely that way," he told the two, looking up at Brad.

"I hadn't thought of it like that," the chief said with a nod to him. "And it comes to mind that maybe we should arrest him too; we'd get a straight answer."

"No," Mrs. Cora protested immediately, her eyes wide. "No don't he's innocent."

"Are you sure? You're not saying much and we don't have another theory to believe," Brad said.

"It was me," Mrs. Cora said, sounding irritated. "I had him kill them both. He _needed_ to kill them both."

"For money?" Castle suggested.

"No," Mrs. Cora replied scathingly. "She humiliated him."

"Eileen," Beckett stated.

"Yes that… bitch," Mrs. Cora spat out. "She ended their engagement right before the wedding! Robbie always said he was glad it was done before the ceremony but I knew what everyone in town said. They mocked him behind his back that his fiancée left him for someone else."

With the woman's words Beckett knew then that it wasn't a hate crime and instead just perceived humiliation. That led her to say, "So you decided to get rid of her."

"She walked into the nursery six months ago as if nothing had happened and smiled at Robbie," Mrs. Cora hissed out. "I could see everyone whispering, watching them talking and waiting to see what would happen. When she came back the day after… I knew she was trying to remind everyone about what happened and knew she needed to die."

"And Fletcher?" Brad asked.

Shrugging Mrs. Cora said, "He saw me over by the secret room, I couldn't let him tell you what he knew."

"So it was you," Castle said.

"No, not that," Mrs. Cora replied.

"Fletcher," Brad stated. When the woman smiled he then asked, "What do you have to do with the Thornes?"

"My grandmother was the mistress of Thorne Junior," Mrs. Cora said, still smiling. "She told me about that room and all the times she snuck in to ride him. I never forgot."

"And you were there, you left your son alone and went to kill Eileen," Beckett said.

"My son was not alone," Mrs. Cora said indignantly. "He was being watched by his usual baby-sitter. I was gone no longer than twenty minutes. My husband is innocent, let him go."

"I'm afraid," Brad started to say as Castle and Beckett looked back at him. "That your husband committed suicide just before we picked you up. He's dead."

"No," Mrs. Cora said, shaking her head after looking at them with wide eyes. "He's not… Robbie wouldn't do that."

"He did," Castle said.

"The three of us were there," Beckett continued.  
"He said he felt guilty," Brad said. "He couldn't live with himself." He became a little disgusted as Mrs. Cora began to sob painfully but did his best not to let it show. He nodded to Castle and Beckett as they stood and then followed them out of the room, motioning for Rice to go inside to watch their killer. "That wrapped it up," he commented once they were inside his office.

"Rapidly too… wait, the checks," Castle said.

Groaning slightly Brad went over to the door and opening it saw that Mrs. Cora was drying her face of her tears. "Did you write the checks? The meth?" he asked her once she was looking up at him.

Breathing out heavily Mrs. Cora nodded saying, "Robbie said they couldn't know why we were killing her; if they thought it was drugs they wouldn't know it was us. And he wanted his ex's lover to help to get revenge on her for what she did to their relationship; she helped in the humiliation. And we don't do drugs. Robbie never did."

Closing the door on the woman sobbing again Brad said to the two, "Fletcher is lucky… in a way."

"Is she still here?" Castle asked.

"Ye- she is," Brad said as Beckett left them.

"She can go, right?" Castle asked. When his friend nodded he walked after his wife to the interview room where Fletcher inside jumped up at their appearance.

"We found the killers," Beckett told her.

"Killers?" Fletcher asked weakly.

"Mrs. Cora has admitted to killing your cousin," Beckett answered.

"Robbie Cora killed Ellie," Fletcher then whispered. When Beckett and Castle both nodded she bit hard on her lower lip and said as tears began to course down her cheeks, "Thank you for finding them both."

"We should tell you now," Brad said as he'd joined the two. "Mr. Cora killed himself earlier today."

Fletcher sat down and she murmured, "He didn't want to kill Ellie. They never hated each other; I told you."

"We recall," Beckett said. "We're letting you know this though because you thought you were a suspect."

"I appreciate that," Fletcher replied, forcing herself to stand. "Can I go now? I'd really like to see my fiancée."

"Go ahead," Brad said when Castle and Beckett looked at him.

"What's left?" Castle asked his wife as the chief escorted the woman out.

"Paperwork I guess," Beckett replied. "But at least this way we'll be able to get Eliza."

"That's right," Castle said, looking at his watch then. "Oh, still about forty minutes. Think we'll make it?"

"You will, I know what you need to sign," Brad told the two as he walked up to them. "I need to get a lawyer for Mrs. Cora and then get a statement from the babysitter to shore the last bit of evidence we need to prove she was over at Fletcher's."

"And Mr. Cora? Remember the footage didn't show him leaving," Beckett reminded him.

"I'm remembering that office," Castle commented. "And wasn't there a window lower to the ground?"

"He's right," Beckett said after recalling herself. "But the sex party?"

"That's what I need to talk to her about now, before the lawyer," Brad told them. "Wait in my office and I'll get you your paperwork."

Castle and Beckett went to observation instead, listening in on the chief asking Mrs. Cora about East Setauket.

"Robbie went there a few times before we met," the woman said dully, as if the severity of everything she was going to be facing had settled on her. "And he thought that was going to work too; he hated the Callands since the husband wouldn't let Robbie sleep with his wife. Wanted to get them in on it, the robbery was his idea too he thought you guys would see it as the Callands being the killers if nothing was stolen from their own home."

"Dim," Castle commented. When his wife looked at him he said, "They were in the Hamptons at the time of the fake robbery."

"He was obviously the weak one," Beckett replied. She saw Brad was leaving the room so she hurried with her husband over to the chief's office before he reached it.

"You guys listen so well," Brad said jokingly though he wasn't really smiling. "And you're a bad influence on your wife with that. Okay so now we have everything wrapped up I'll let you guys go."

"What about their son?" Beckett asked.

"I'm not sure," Brad said honestly. "If Cora has a will that states what will happen to him we'll follow that. Otherwise I'll have to call Child Services, which I'll need to do anyways."

"Family?" Castle suggested.

"That's right, he as an uncle in Queens," Brad said with a nod. "I'll call him first."

Castle and Beckett sat down together, watching and listening while the chief began to talk to the son's uncle. They glanced at each other as they heard the man's shock through the phone at the news about his brother and sister in law. They knew the other was thinking of their youngest and they turned back to Brad as he hung up, hoping he'd get the paperwork they'd need to sign quickly so they could see Eliza and take her to lunch as she'd been wanting them to do that morning.

* * *

Standing in a line with the rest of her classmates Eliza tried not to fidget too much as she was desperate to go out and see if her parents were in the entry of the building. Finally, the teachers began to lead them out and she tried to peer around everyone to see the adults ahead of them. But there were too many there for all the pre-school classes and she tried not to scream in her frustration. Ultimately, they were allowed to go to the adults and she cried out when she saw her parents were there. "Mommy, Daddy!" she exclaimed as she ran over to them.

"Hey Eliza," Castle said as Beckett picked her up. "Missed us?"

"Yeah but I didn't know you were here," Eliza said, kissing his cheek after she'd kissed her mother's. "You finished?"

"We did," Beckett replied. "And very quickly too."

"That's good," Eliza said seriously, nodding her head.

"It is," Beckett said, slightly laughingly. "So now that we can take you where would you like to go for lunch?"

"Um," Eliza began before she thought for a moment. "I wanna go have some noodles."

"The Japanese place?" Castle asked as he opened the umbrella outside while Beckett remained inside to wait for him. When he saw Eliza nodding he said, "That sounds good to me."

"And me, we can go," Beckett said, shaking her head at her husband as he glanced at her before they made their way over to the car.

"Where's Gram?" Eliza asked her parents.

"In the car," Castle told her.

"She didn't want to get her hair wet," Beckett said.

"You don't have more umbrellas?" Eliza said in confusion.

"Yes, but you know how she is," Castle replied.

"Oh, did she go to get…" Eliza started to say.

"A quick trim according to her," Beckett said as her mother in law had told them that on the way over to the school.

"Hello kiddo," Martha said as her granddaughter was set into the car next to her. "How was school?" she asked, helping the little girl into her car seat.

"Good, I'm happy Mommy and Daddy are here," Eliza said while she watched her grandmother buckle her seat. "Are you?"

"Of course," Martha replied, glancing in the front where Castle and Beckett were getting into their seats. "Did we decide on lunch?"

"Yeah," Eliza answered first, Castle starting the car at the same time. "We're gonna have Japan."

"Ese," Castle finished.

"Which one? We have a sushi place, a noodle restaurant and just a standard restaurant," Martha said.

"Noodles," Eliza said quickly. "We're gonna have those."

"I'm not surprised," Martha said as she was already aware her youngest granddaughter liked the ramen dishes there. "A shame it's raining," she said a little bit later when they were at the restaurant and her son was parking the car. "The girls won't be able to play."

Castle wanted to comment on that before he got out and went around to hold the umbrella for Beckett to get out underneath the umbrella. "I was thinking of the family fun center," he said quietly to her as his mother was getting out with Eliza.

" _We could_ ," Beckett replied, switching to Irish. " _But if she has homework we'll have to think of something else_."

" _Then I'll hope she doesn't have any_ ," Castle replied easily.

Walking inside the restaurant Beckett was slightly surprised it was nearly empty; since it was time for lunch; but didn't say anything as they were lead over to their table. Once they were sitting she said, "Rick and I are going to try and take the girls to the family fun center," to her mother in law.

"Are you going to golf?" Martha asked.

"Yes, we can finally try out the indoor course," Castle said, smiling at Eliza next to his mother who was looking ecstatic.

"Finally?" Martha said.

"When we've gone the weather usually has been good," Beckett replied. "So we've gone over their courses there."

"That will be fun," Martha said as she was looking at Eliza.

"Are you gonna come Gram?" the little girl asked.

"I don't know," Martha replied.

"We wouldn't mind you if you're wondering about that," Beckett told her. "And so you know we might head to the Greek place for dinner."

"We haven't been there for a while," Castle said in surprise since they hadn't talked about dinner yet.

"Which is why I'm suggesting it," Beckett told him with a smile.

"It's a good idea," Martha said, setting down the menu they'd been given. "Better to have a smaller family dinner tonight before the bigger one you're having tomorrow."

"For you," Eliza added.

"She's right," Castle said with a smile as his mother was hugging the little girl next to her. "But does that mean you're not going to come with us?"

"Oh no I am, I'm one of the family," Martha assured him. "I'm just stating a fact."

Beckett squeezed her husband's arm gently as he shook his head, ordering for them as she was aware what they wanted and she ordered a simpler ramen for her mother in law. When they were alone again she said, "We might stay a little later at the family fun center."

"I'm duly warned," Martha said with a smile. "And while I might be able to take a break you two will be able to as well."

"We'll see," Beckett said first.

"She's right, we're going since we want to spend time with them," Castle commented.

"And we have school tomorrow," Eliza told her grandmother.

"If you're worried about us being alone I think we'll have the chance," Castle said wryly.

"Oh, that was fast," Martha said when their dishes were brought out to them.

"It doesn't take long to make," Castle said. He then looked at Eliza and said to his wife, "Should we switch?"

"She knows how to eat it," Beckett said as their youngest had gotten better at eating the noodles since they'd been in Japan.

"Yeah," Eliza said, picking up her fork.

"Chopsticks?" Martha asked as she picked up the fork her son had asked for her as well.

"It's okay, they know not everyone can use chopsticks for that," Beckett replied before she gathered some noodles with her own.

Castle and Beckett paid attention to their daughter while they were eating; making sure she would be able to eat her own meal. But Eliza soon had the hang of it and they were asking her about her day.

"And then I was ready to go but we go slow," the little girl said as they were waiting for her mother's card to come back after paying.

"I know but there's a reason for that," Castle said, ruffling her hair as she was sitting on Beckett's lap.

"Yeah," Eliza said with a sigh. "But then I saw you and I was happy and we went outside and-"

"We already know what you did after that," Castle said in amusement.

"I think that's the idea love," Beckett told her husband.

"Oh," Castle said with a laugh. "You tell a good story sweetheart," he said, playfully pinching his daughter's cheek.

"Thank you, Daddy," Eliza replied. She then moved to go onto his lap and hugging him around the neck said seriously, "Can I write too?"

"We told you you could," Beckett said, tucking her card back into her pocketbook. "Is this because your sister is writing now?"

Nodding Eliza said, "But I can't write yet."

"I'll disagree a little with you there kiddo," Martha told her. When her youngest granddaughter turned to her she said, "You can write just not enough for books. At least not yet."

As they got up Beckett said, "She's right, give it time and you'll learn to write a lot more."

Though Eliza wanted to protest the word, time, she couldn't really as they were back out in the rain and she asked her mother who was carrying her, "What now?"

"We're going home," Beckett said. "To rest."

Eliza smiled at the relief in her mother's tone and kissed her cheek before she was placed into the backseat and hurried to get into her seat so she could see the dogs again and play with her parents.

* * *

"I don't know if it was a good idea to really try and write," Beckett said to her husband in amusement as she watched him yawn.

"Lunch made me sleepy," Castle commented.

"It's almost two thirty," Beckett said, pretending to chide him. "But you're right, I'm tired myself." She was looking down at the pad of paper on her lap before she glanced slightly at him saying, " _We worked hard last night_."

" _I place the blame for my exertion on your shawl_ ," Castle replied. When his wife looked at him with one eyebrow slightly raised he continued with, " _Wear it again_."

Beckett laughed softly and then said, " _I think I will_." She heard a knock then on the wall and turned with him, seeing it was their youngest. "Hey sweetie," she said with a smile. "Tired of playing with the dogs?"

"Yeah, Gram said I can come here," Eliza said as she hurried inside with the dogs trailing her. She went to her mother and once she was sitting on her lap she asked, "Did you write? Can we go see Jules?"

"Whoa," Castle said jokingly, holding up his hands. "One question at a time. And so you know we didn't write and we have about a half hour to go to your sister's class."

"Although it's technically yours too," Beckett said.

"Nah uh," Eliza said, shaking her head rapidly. "I'm not dancing there yet."

"You're practicing already, I think you are," Castle commented. "Do you want us to play with you?"

"No," Eliza said.

"Play by yourself?" Castle asked. Eliza opened her mouth to speak when he continued and said, "With the dogs?"

"Rick," Beckett said laughingly. "Let her speak."

Before Eliza could she was interrupted yet again but that time it was the chime for the door next to the gate.

"That wasn't me this time," Castle said as he and Beckett stood.

"Richard, Kate," Martha called out to him as she'd gone to the intercom in the foyer.

Seeing that his mother had opened the door Castle asked, "Was that one of the Fosters?"

"It's Brad," Beckett said, looking out into the front and seeing the man walking up. "In street clothes," she said in surprise, setting Eliza down.

"Are my mommy and daddy finished?" the little girl said after she'd run to the chief.

"They are," Brad said. He laughed when she stopped him to hug him and he said, "If I'd said they had to come back with me would you have not given your uncle a hug?"

"Maybe," Eliza replied before she beamed up at him.

"Just like your dad," Brad said as he playfully tugged a lock of her hair.

"So at least we are finished," Beckett said as she and Castle had walked up to them.

"You have one more page to sign; I missed it," Brad told him, holding up the file he had.

"Do you want to come inside?" Castle asked his friend.

"No, just sign on the railing of the porch and I'll head back to the station," Brad told them

"Why the street clothes?" Beckett said as they walked over there.

"I felt like I needed to," Brad said with a shrug. He glanced at Eliza, who was soon being led into the house and he quickly said, "I never told her her husband sold her out before the evidence could."

"I would have done the same," Beckett replied. "She was hit hard enough by his death."

"She's right, you're a humane man," Castle said as he finished signing after his wife. "Much more humane than she was in the end. Did you ever ask about what Eileen was trying to do with those photos?"

"It was a wild goose chase essentially," Brad replied. "The vic found the pictures but the Coras weren't sure where they would go from there when the wife remembered the hidden room. She said Whyte, Robles or Kato; who Mr. Cora knew from both the Calland's parties and because the nursery sponsored a team they were on one year several years ago; was going to be lured into there while the game was going on to one of the lockers and that's why the vic went to the locker room. Mrs. Cora said it was pure luck the vic went into the closet or else Mr. Cora would have killed her out in the dressing room. And I know you're going to ask why there-"

"No, I think we've figured out why," Castle interrupted. "They would have left her in the hidden room."

Brad nodded and said, "That was the plan, a little too well thought out but lucky for us they made mistakes."

"I wish Eileen hadn't believed the threat to the three," Beckett said with a sigh. "Or had been able to get to one of us before the game."

Nodding in agreement Castle said to his wife, "We'll stay close with her wife and the baby."

"Of course we will," Beckett said with a slight smile.

Squeezing her hand Castle turned to his friend and asked, "You'll be here for dinner tomorrow?"

"Of course, Lily's looking forward to it," Brad said as he tucked the papers back into the file. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Saying goodbye to him Castle turned to his wife and was about to say something when his text alert rang. "Must be David since we just saw Brad," he said jokingly.

"Who is it?" Beckett asked, watching him look at his message and frown.

Sighing Castle told her, "Meredith, she wants to bring some wine."

"We have enough," Beckett said evenly. "If she really wants to bring anything tell her to bring some cookies for dessert since we don't have any right now."

Castle texted his ex quickly and after putting his phone away in his pocket was going to speak to his wife when she suddenly kissed him. He was startled but quickly recovered before he was wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he could. Their kiss deepened and by the time they parted he realized he'd forgotten his ex. "You did that on purpose," he told her.

"I think there are better things you should think about," Beckett replied, walking into the house.

Breathing out hard as he watched her Castle soon followed, realizing she was absolutely right. And as Eliza hurried up to him he turned his attention to his family, finding it far better to think of them than anything else.


	28. Head On Down The Road

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Don't Let Me Wait Too Long_ by George Harrison from his album _Living in the Material World_ , and _Dark Sweet Lady_ by George Harrison from his album _George Harrison_.

A/N #2: I was very happy with what I got for feedback for the last chapter so will go ahead right to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (I thought it was really nice that you thought the first half of the chapter was a page turner, since I wanted to make it interesting of course, lol. And I'm also glad that you thought the story is awesome; though not surprised you meant that and not the part where Cora jumped. I had to laugh a bit at you mentioning they might make it to Julia's class and the yay after that but it was great that you were eager for them to do that! Not surprised that you were glad that they closed the case, I know readers were wanting them to do that. And I'm not surprised either that you're worried about Meredith, I didn't trust her on the show either so I'm not surprised that you don't trust her here either. And I wasn't quite sure what you were asking for but hopefully I can do that for you! And of course, happy to see that you thought it was great writing as usual!),

vetgirlmx (I wasn't surprised you brought up your reaction to how she was when she was interviewed, it was a bit of a tell, lol, though I tried my best not to overdo it. I was waiting to see what you'd say about the motive and there was no surprise you thought it was kind of convoluted but you're right, there are people like her and I've seen that on true crime shows I've watched. It is a shame, you're right about that too. I'm glad I could surprise you with Cora killing himself in front of them, and I think if you imagined it vividly then it's because that have that scene in movies and TV a lot so I wasn't surprised you saw that. And I laughed a bit at your saying you hadn't expected them to finish the case so early. Also laughed since you mentioned that when one of the girls says they're hoping they finish the case they do. I do that 'cause I want to show that though the girls know their work is important they also want them staying at home. But I'm not surprised you were glad they got to pick Eliza up and I agree, with what happened to the kids in this story they'd want to see their kids definitely. I wasn't surprised that you had forgotten about the dinner party, I didn't really have them speak too, too much about it. I laughed a bit again when I saw that you had groaned out loud when you remembered Meredith, and then again when you said you'd done that at work. Hopefully you didn't get in trouble doing that there! I wasn't in the least bit surprised that you're not sure if you should be excited or afraid about the dinner party, I figured there would be those kinds of reactions, lol. But I'm glad you want to see what happens anyway since that means you want to read more and now you can!) and

TORONTOSUN (Really nice to see you thought it was very good writing. And I'm glad you thought it was good writing for everyone in the chapter!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _You Don't Know How It Feels_ by Tom Petty, from his album _Wildflowers_.

Head On Down The Road

Breathing hard Julia went to her parents and let her mother wipe away the sweat on her face before she said, "It was fun still."

"I hope so," Castle commented with a smile. "Since you're going to be dancing for so long."

"Yeah," Julia replied. "Will you tell me what we're gonna do after the class?" she said, looking at all the members of her family.

"We'll tell you after class," Beckett said firmly.

"You're no fun, I can tell that Lizzy knows already," Julia said before the door to the studio burst open.

"Kids," Ms. Grey said as she walked inside. "I'm afraid that I need to end the class early, Clive has fallen ill and his parents aren't here."

"Go and change," Beckett told her daughter.

"Okay… will he be alright?" Julia asked, remembering the boy hadn't looked that well when he'd been dancing with Mari and had run out abruptly.

"Once his parents get here he'll be okay," David said, speaking to his daughter as well.

"He said he felt like he was gonna be sick," Mari told her friend as they changed in the changing room.

"I hope he'll be okay," Julia said.

"He might not be able to come tomorrow," Mari said with a sigh.

"Peter will dance with you," Julia told her reassuringly.

Though Mari wanted to mention that the two would need to practice together she finally nodded and put on her uniform sweater before they left the room. "I wonder what you're gonna do now," she whispered as they neared their families.

"Me too," Julia said with a smile.

"Okay," Castle said as soon as the two were with them. "We're heading out to the family fun center."

"We are?" Julia exclaimed happily.

"Yes, your daddy had the idea to go there and try out the indoor course," Beckett said.

"Can Mari come too?" Julia asked then.

"I think you should let her go with her family," Beckett said gently.

"But-" Julia started to say, sounding dismayed.

"We're heading home," Rebecca interrupted. "It's a nice day for Ruby to stay in."

"Maybe another day?" Mari told her friend.

"Maybe," Julia said with a sigh as she knew they couldn't convince their parents. They left the dance class and when they were at the door outside she hugged her friend tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, that night there's the dinner," Mari told her.

"And after school you can go over to Julia's house if Rick and Kate say it's alright," David told his daughter.

"It is," Beckett said quickly.

"Definitely, you two will need to watch Eliza," Castle joked when the little girl almost glared at him.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Beckett said before they stepped out into the lightly falling rain. They got to their car, in front of the Foster's, and she waved to the family before she got into the passenger seat. "While we're going there," she said as she looked back at the girls. "We will play the arcade games too but you two need to behave or we're not going to get to them at all."

"We will be," Julia said, her sister nodding rapidly. "Are we gonna eat there?"

"We could have a tiny snack," Castle suggested.

"We'll see," Beckett said since he'd looked at her. "We're going to the Greek restaurant for dinner."

"Good," Julia said, smiling before she looked out the window watching the trails of rain on it before her father was pulling into the parking lot of the family fun center.

Hurrying inside the family went straight to the counter to get their game ordered before they went to the first hole of the fairy tale themed course and the girls looked at their parents before Beckett spoke first.

"I forgot but we should get our snack now," she told the others.

"Can we get a cookie?" Eliza said eagerly as they were walking back the way they'd come.

"Not something sweet," Beckett said, smiling at how hopeful the little girl was. When they were at the small café the place had she said, "I didn't realize they had an actual menu."

"This place is big," Castle reminded her. "Four courses, arcade, small amusement park now."

"I wish we could have gone on the rides," Julia said.

"We'll get you two some yogurt okay?" Beckett said as she picked up two containers in the display. "And water."

"Kay," Eliza said, looking a little hungrily at the parfaits of Greek yogurt with apple slices on top.

When they were sitting around one of the tables there Julia looked around and said, "Let's eat here next time."

"Aren't you assuming we're coming back?" Castle said with a smile.

"You would want to come back," Julia shot back before she laughed. She ate a spoonful of her yogurt and watched her father take some before saying, "Is that why we're having Greek yogurt?"

"I just thought of it," Beckett replied with a smile. "And you're right we should come back and come here."

"A weekend perhaps?" Castle said.

"When it snows!" Eliza gasped before she took her spoon her mother had gotten some of their yogurt on.

"That's possible," Castle commented to his wife.

"I know and if the roads are drivable we might do that," Beckett said. "First we need to go through our visit this time."

"Are you gonna have fun Gram?" Julia asked as Martha had been watching them while drinking the coffee she'd gotten.

"I will," she replied. "Don't worry. I'm just trying to warm up."

"Is it still raining?" Eliza asked.

"I think so," Castle replied, helping her get the last of the yogurt in the cup. "Alright I think we're ready to head out," he told his wife.

"So are we," Beckett said with a smile as Julia ate the last apple slice.

"Mommy," Julia said as Castle and Eliza went to throw away the trash they had. "What about 'lexis?"

Looking at her watch then Beckett said, "Hold on," before her husband and Eliza came back to them. "How are we going to talk to Alexis tonight?"

Remembering that they'd have the chance to talk to his daughter Castle grabbed his phone and said, "I'll text her, see if she minds us calling later."

"She shouldn't," Beckett commented. "Her class tomorrow isn't until one."

"You're right," Castle said after his daughter had texted him back. "She said to let her know when we can talk, she'll wait for us."

"Even if she can't go to bed?" Eliza asked as they walked over to the start of the course again.

"We won't call her that late," Beckett assured her. "Alright you're first sweetie," he told Eliza.

Nodding her head, the little girl looked at where she needed to hit her golf ball before her father set it down on the ground for here. "Where do I hit it?" Eliza whispered to him.

"I think your best bet is here," Castle commented pointing to the side where he knew the ball would ricochet off and towards the hole.

Eliza nodded and tried her best to hit it there though it came a little short to her dismay.

"Wonderful job darling," Martha said, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Of course, for your age that's very good," Martha assured her before they watched her big sister hitting her bright blue golf ball.

"Close," Beckett said with a smile as it went past the hole and hit the other side.

"I know. You'll get a hole in one Mommy," Julia told her seriously.

"We'll need to see," Beckett told her as she was setting down her green golf ball. She hit the ball over to the hole and hers stopped just next to it.

"Nice love," Castle said when his wife went to hit the ball in. "Now watch me," he said playfully to the girls who giggled at him.

"Watch you go off course?" Martha said when her son hit the ball onto the rocks next to the path.

"Yes," Castle said, smiling at the girls as they were laughing. "Now for real."

"Was he faking?" Eliza asked her grandmother.

"It looks like he was," Martha said with a nod as her son managed to get a hole in one.

"I got lucky," Castle said as he moved out of the way for his mother.

The girls watched her interestedly, wondering how she would do, before she hit her orange golf ball and it stopped close to the hole. They smiled at each other before Eliza went to hit her ball to the hole and they continued their way through the course.

"Look at the beanstalk," Julia said there as there was one with a figurine climbing up it.

"Where's the goose?" Eliza said.

"Maybe he's going up to get it," Castle suggested to them.

"Did you go?" Julia asked him.

"Did you get that first?" Eliza asked. She then looked at her sister and said, "Hole in one?"

"Yeah, that's how you say it," Julia said with a nod. "You got that didn't you?"

"Yep," Castle said, sitting on the bench where they were standing. "You're getting better," he told them.

Sharing a look with her sister Eliza asked, "Me?"

"Both of you," Castle told them. "But we can't come too often."

"We know," the girls said at the same time, laughing as their father pretended to jump. They heard a ball falling into the cup and turned to see it was their grandmother as they were all going one at a time.

"How's Grandpapa?" Julia asked her mother as they walked over to the next hole.

"As far as I know he's fine," Beckett replied. "Why?"

Shrugging her shoulders Julia said, "I miss him."

"We'll see him tomorrow," Castle reminded her.

"I think that's why they miss him we haven't talked to him in a while," Beckett said as she saw that Eliza was watching them though she was supposed to be going first. "You'll see him," she assured the girls before they watched Eliza taking her shot.

"Despite five people and two of those children we seem to be going quickly," Martha commented to her daughter in law.

"They want to go play," Beckett said. "Eliza," she called as the little girl started to walk over towards a pond that was in the middle of the course.

"There are fishies Mommy," Eliza said quickly.

"Stay where you are," Beckett instructed her.

When she had finished her turn; taking four shots to reach the hole; Julia hurried to her little sister and saw she was right. "There are koi," she said amazement.

"Let me see," Beckett said, walking over to them after her turn.

"They're so pretty," Julia said. "You're sure we couldn't get one."

"Your daddy and I talked about it and we're a little concerned about the dogs being too interested in the fish," Beckett said, sitting at a bench near them before the girls went to her.

"Oh… would they eat the fishies?" Eliza asked her, leaning against her mother.

"We don't want to chance it, plus it does get very cold in the winter," Beckett said, running her hand over the back of her daughter's head. "We'll just stick with dogs and fish in aquariums."

"What?" Julia asked, a little sad at that as her goldfish had died only two weeks after getting it once they'd returned from summer vacation.

"I almost forgot we've been planning to get you a new fish; if you'd like one," Beckett told her.

"Really?" Julia asked.

"If you want," Castle said, he and his mother walking over to them.

"Yes! Please, I would love another fish but do I have to get a goldfish?" Julia told them.

"If it can live in the small tank you have then no," Beckett told her. "For now, let's keep going," she said as she stood, the girls nodding eagerly while they made their way to the next hole.

After they'd gone through the entire course Julia and Eliza looked over at the arcade eagerly but their parents took them to return the golf clubs first to their disappointment.

"Now we can go play," Castle told the two with a smile once they were walking away from the counter.

"Good," Julia said. "Do we have to go together?"

"No, if you want to split up we can do that," Beckett replied.

"Then can I go by myself?" Julia asked hopefully.

"No," Beckett said firmly. When her oldest pouted at her she said, "I stand by that."

Sighing though she was eventually smiling Julia said, "How much can we play with?"

"You can have five dollars each," Castle said as they were at the change machine.

"That's quite a lot," Martha told her son.

"We'll use it too," Castle replied as Beckett took the first five dollars worth of quarters. "And you Mother if you'd like."

"I may just watch," Martha said before Julia went with her mother.

"Want to race me Mommy?" Julia was asking Beckett as they came to the racing game they'd played on before.

"Sure," Beckett said with a smile. She took the game next to her daughter's and said, "Go the speed limit sweetie."

"No way, I'll lose," Julia said before giggling and putting in the quarters. She chose where they were going to race; Spain; before she got her car. They began to race together and though she was trying to do her best to keep up her mother was soon far ahead.

"You were close," Beckett said when the race ended and her daughter had gotten fourth.

"I had to work for that," Julia said though she was laughing. "Okay, I want to do the skeeball next," she told her mother as they walked away.

"Sure," Beckett replied before they walked to the skeeball games.

"Mommy," Julia said.

"Yes sweetie," Beckett replied, looking at her before they started to play.

"I know we just came here but could we come back with Grandpapa when you and Daddy are in Tahiti?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Beckett said. "You just need to make sure that he wants to go." She then smiled at her daughter and said, "But I think he will."

"Yeah," Julia said, throwing one of the balls. That reminded her of when she'd played with her grandfather while her parents had been on their first honeymoon and she continued to play as she recalled that night with her grandparents and sister at the pizza parlor.

* * *

 _"You got a hundred Grandpapa!" Julia exclaimed as she watched him throw the last skeeball._

 _"I know I was lucky," Jim replied._

 _"Can we play again?" Julia asked him hopefully._

 _"Unfortunately that was your last quarter," Jim replied. "But don't worry," he told her. "You'll come back and you'll be able to play more then."_

 _"Yeah," Julia said though she was still disappointed. She sat on her grandfather's lap at the table they were sitting at with Alexis and Martha; who'd left for a moment; and said to him, "With Mommy and Daddy?"_

 _"Most likely," Jim told her. "Are you missing them?"_

 _"Little bit," Julia replied. "But they have to go on their honeymoon."_

 _"Even if they have to they still miss you too," Jim said._

 _"I just got a text from Dad," Alexis said, walking over to them with Martha. "They want to talk to us."_

 _"We better go," Jim said as Julia looked up at him eagerly. He picked up the little girl and carried her out to the car, getting her set in her car seat before he drove them back home._

 _"Hi Mommy, Daddy," Julia said when she saw her parents on the TV once they were in the family room. "I got to play today!"_

 _"Oh really?" Beckett asked with a smile. "Where did you?"_

 _"At the pizza place," Julia said. "Grandpapa and Gram let me play and I played with him."_

 _"Did you have fun?" Castle asked._

 _Smiling a little shyly at him Julia nodded and proceeded to tell her parents all about their time at the pizza parlor, especially the games that she'd gotten to play. "But I wished you were with us to play," she then added._

 _"We did too," Castle said. When Julia looked startled he then said, "Well, just in general through the day. Are you having fun though?"_

 _"I am, don't miss me a lot," Julia said in slight concern. "You're gonna come home soon."_

 _"We know that but we won't stop missing you," Beckett said firmly. "And we want you to still have fun."_

 _"I did," Julia assured her. "What did you do?"_

 _"We just went around the countryside," Beckett said first. "Since I wanted to see some green hills and your daddy wanted to again."_

 _"Did you take pictures?" Martha asked._

 _"She did," Castle said, smiling at his wife. "A lot of them."_

 _"And it did start to rain but we had an umbrella so we stayed at the field we were on for a while," Beckett said._

 _"That sounds nice," Julia said seriously._

 _"It was," Beckett replied._

 _"After that we came back to the hotel and swam a little bit until dinner and talking to you," Castle continued. "What else did you get to today?"_

 _Julia then told her parents about going to play on the playground in the morning, swimming in the ocean until they'd left for dinner. "It was fun but I'm tired," she finished._

 _"Not a surprise," Castle commented._

 _"Mommy?" Julia asked then._

 _"What is it sweetie?" Beckett asked her._

 _"How is my little brother or sister?" Julia said a little shyly._

 _"The baby's fine," Beckett replied. "I should just say as soon as we see you guys."_

 _"Next time," Castle told her. "We'll let you go."_

 _"But it's not my bedtime," Julia protested._

 _"I think it's theirs Jules," Alexis told her little sister._

 _"Oh," Julia said slowly._

 _"We'll call tomorrow," Castle said. "Have fun tomorrow Julia; you too Alexis though I guess I should say that to all of you."_

 _"We will," Alexis said with a smile. "We don't know what we're going to do yet but we'll tell you."_

 _"I will," Julia said firmly._

 _"We look forward to that," Beckett said. "I love you sweetie."_

 _"I love you too Mommy," Julia said. "And I love you too Daddy," she added, looking at him and blushing a little._

 _"I love you too Julia," Castle said before he turned his attention to Alexis to tell her the same._

 _After waving goodbye to her parents Julia turned to her family and said, "Do I gotta go to bed?"_

 _"Soon," Martha said, checking the time. "You can play a game."_

 _"Not for too long," Alexis said as she quickly followed her sister to the cabinet where the games were._

 _"Then try and help her find a game that won't take that long," Jim suggested to her._

 _After Alexis and Julia had gone back to the table with the game the four played the set of checkers that Castle and Beckett had bought for the little girl. They only played twice before Jim picked Julia up and carried her to her room to help her get ready for bed._

 _"What's wrong honey?" Jim asked his granddaughter while he was brushing her hair._

 _"Do you think Mommy and Daddy will want to play with me still when the baby is born?" Julia whispered softly._

 _"Of course they will," Jim replied, setting aside the brush and taking her onto his lap. "You know that your parents love you; they don't say it for no reason."_

 _"But the baby takes time," Julia replied, looking up at him worriedly._

 _"It does but your parents are very aware they'll have two children," Jim said, speaking firmly so she wouldn't doubt him. "And they know they'll need to pay attention to you both."_

 _"Then…" Julia began before she trailed off. "Can I help?"_

 _"With- with taking care of the baby?" Jim asked before he realized what she was talking about exactly. When she nodded he smiled and said, "I think so, just ask your parents okay?"_

 _"Will they let me give the baby a bath?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"Maybe," Jim replied._

 _"Put her to bed?" Julia then said._

 _"I don't think so," Jim said. "Your sibling's crib is going to be a little too tall for you to reach into. But if they get the baby a bassinet then you'll have the chance to do that then."_

 _"Can I carry the baby?" Julia then whispered._

 _"Yes," Jim replied. When her eyes went wide he chuckled and said, "Your mother told me already she'll let you hold your brother or sister as much as possible from the second you meet the baby after it's born."_

 _"She did?" Julia asked, feeling her cheeks blushing slightly._

 _"Of course, she said you need to be in your sibling's life as much as possible," Jim said, though he was leaving out the rest of that. His daughter had said that she had wanted Julia as close with her sibling as possible so the little girl would never realize she wasn't related to the baby biologically. "And I think she knows you'll love it."_

 _Squirming a little Julia said, "I love the baby already."_

 _"Oh, you do?" Jim asked with a smile._

 _"Yeah, I always wanted one," Julia whispered. "And to be a big sister."_

 _"And now you will," Alexis said with a smile as she and Martha were entering the room._

 _Julia, though she was blushing again, wrapped her arms around her sister as she picked her up. She said good night to them before she was tucked in and while she was happy as she fell asleep she couldn't help thinking of her parents; missing them and hoping the rest of their honeymoon would go just a little bit faster._

* * *

"Sweetie?" Beckett said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Yeah," Julia said, shaking herself of her memories then and turning to her mother with a smile. "Did you get any tickets?"

"A number of them," Beckett said. "What were you thinking about?"

Though she wasn't going to say Julia couldn't help it because her mother was stroking her hair so tenderly and she related her memories. "I'm glad you wanted me to help with Lizzy so much," she said when she'd finished, wrapping her arms around her mother tightly.

"I'm glad that you love your sister as much as you do," Beckett replied, rubbing her back. "And that you did for so long."

Julia smiled and said with a beaming smile, "I'm glad you didn't forget me."

"No way we could do that," Castle said, walking up to the two with his mother and Eliza.

"You're going to play skeeball?" Beckett asked her husband.

"Actually, I am," Martha said. "With them."

"Come on," Castle said, taking his wife's hand.

"We'll be back," Beckett called to their girls as they walked away. "Where are you taking me?" she asked in amusement.

"Just here," Castle replied, having found a place that was secluded just enough. When he saw his wife was studying him he asked, "I surprised you?"

"Slightly, I thought you would have started kissing me," Beckett said with a smile.

"If I do it's going to need to be quick," Castle said as more people had arrived in the building since they'd gotten there.

"Then it'll be quick," Beckett said easily before he leaned down to her. She met his kiss and they were very gentle and quick before pulling apart. "We need to get some rest tonight," she said.

"But you're regretting that we should," Castle said with a smile as he watched her closely.

"I am," Beckett admitted. She shared another kiss with him before she told him, "But we'll have time tonight once they're in bed to be alone."

"I know I just wanted a second… or two," Castle said to her with a smile.

Kissing him that time Beckett said, "We can play a game together but then we'll go back with them."

Shaking his head Castle said, "Let's play with them."

"Okay," Beckett said with a soft laugh before he led her over to the skeeball games where the girls were still playing with their grandmother.

"That was very quick," Martha said to her son as he leaned down and kissed Eliza's cheek.

"We were missing out on the games," Beckett said.

"How much more can we play?" Julia asked eagerly.

"One more game for us all," Castle said, taking out some quarters he already had. "And then we'll go through the rest together."

The girls were eager to begin and they watched their father put quarters into each game they were standing in front of. After they had played they pooled their tickets together before their mother suggested to them they should get more.

"I know one that we can get," Julia said with a smile. She then led the way to a coin slider game and said, "I saw people with lots of tickets here last time."

"Why don't we switch," Beckett suggested as Eliza was tugging at her sleeve.

"Okay, I'll stay with her," Castle said, nodding to Julia who had already started to play.

"We'll be back," Beckett said with a smile before she left with Eliza tugging on her hand. They walked through the games behind the coin slider game and kept walking before she finally stopped the little girl as she had the feeling her youngest didn't know what she wanted to play yet. She was about to ask her if she could suggest something they could play together when Eliza began to talk and beat her to it.

"I wanna play that one," the little girl said firmly, pointing to a game.

Seeing _The Simpsons_ soccer game Beckett said, "Really?"

"Yeah," Eliza replied, nodding her head rapidly.

"Okay," Beckett said with a smile, putting a couple quarters in. She watched as the little girl tried her best to shoot goals on the Homer Simpson goalie, cheering her on and applauding when she scored twice.

"Now you do it Mommy," Eliza told her with a smile.

"Alright," Beckett replied. She put in another two quarters before she then began to kick the soccer ball. She scored more than her youngest had but Eliza didn't seem to mind as she hugged her when the game stopped. "Okay," she said. "You only have two more quarters left so pick your last two games."

Shaking her head Eliza said, "I wanna play with you."

"Then we should pick two we can play together," Beckett said. When her daughter nodded she let her pull her through the arcade until they were at the coin slider game again; to her surprise.

"Hey, I guess we're getting back together," Castle told his wife as they were still at the game.

"I guess," Beckett said. "How many coins do you have left?"

"Just one," Julia said, holding it up.

"And you?" Castle asked.

"Two," Beckett replied.

"And she wanted to come here?" Castle asked.

"She did," Beckett said. "I didn't say a word."

"Or else her sister sent her a telepathic message," Castle commented.

"No, I didn't," Julia said in mock exasperation as she was playing the game.

"Do we have to go when we finish?" Eliza asked her parents as they watched her big sister.

"We should, it's dinnertime," Beckett told her, running her hand over the back of her head as Eliza leaned into her and hugged her.

"You're not hungry yet?" Castle asked. "You usually are."

"Yeah," Eliza said with a giggle.

"Can we throw the plates this time?" Julia asked as she finished and moved for her sister to go.

"I think we'll pass," Beckett said while Castle was helping Eliza drop the coins into the slots at the top. "But we'll get _baklava_ , is that a better trade off?"

"Trade off?" Martha said in surprise.

"I'm kidding," Beckett said with a smile. "We were planning on getting them that already."

"I see," Martha replied. "She didn't hear a thing, did she?" she commented as Eliza was watching the game.

"I guess not," Castle said laughingly as he set her down. "I heard."

"Heard what?" Eliza asked, looking up at them.

"We're gonna get desserts," Julia said with a smile.

"Dessert," Castle corrected her. "Just _baklava_."

"Kay," Eliza said eagerly. "Can we go now?"

"Yes," Beckett said laughingly. "After you take care of your tickets."

The girls had no protest to that and they hurried to the prizes to see how many tickets they'd gotten.

"Do we have enough for those?" Julia asked, pointing to a kit that had a large wand for bubble blowing on a tray.

"I think you do," Castle answered, seeing the number of tickets it was worth. He asked the worker behind the counter for two and as they left; the girls walking with Martha ahead of them; he said, "They haven't had one of those since Eliza was two."

"I know I was thinking of that myself," Beckett said with a smile at the memory. They hurried out to the car and helped the girls into the back and she was still thinking of the May afternoon after their youngest had turned two when she and Castle had decided to have a picnic with their daughters in their backyard.

* * *

 _"Is here a good spot?" Julia asked, looking back at her parents._

 _"It's perfect," Castle said, shaking out the blanket he'd brought with him and laying it down. He smiled when the girls immediately fell onto it and he asked, "What're you two doing?"_

 _"We're watching clouds," Julia replied as her sister next to her was kicking her legs._

 _"I think Eliza's swimming," Beckett commented as she set down the picnic basket her husband insisted they use though they were only in their backyard._

 _"Can we?" Julia asked interestedly as she sat up, her sister following her lead._

 _"Me Mama," Eliza said, reaching over to her._

 _"We can try," Beckett replied. "I thought you'd want to swim in the ocean," she said as she nodded to the water._

 _"You said the pool is warmer," Julia replied._

 _"It is," Beckett replied as she watched Castle taking out their food._

 _"We'll go there," he said. "Are you ready?" Castle asked the girls._

 _"I am," Julia replied. "I'm hungry."_

 _"Eliza come here sweetie," Beckett said to the toddler. She smiled as Eliza pushed herself up and walked carefully to her. She wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek tenderly before helping her sit. She gave her the sandwich that Castle had made for their youngest, a peanut butter and jelly that he'd cut into a circle using a cookie cutter._

 _"Are we only gonna do that today?" Julia asked._

 _"You don't want to stay at the pool?" Castle said._

 _"Well… okay," Julia said after thinking about that for a moment. "But what about later?"_

 _"I was thinking," Castle said._

 _"Is that a good idea?" Beckett told him teasingly. She wasn't surprised when he glanced at her but was when he leaned over to kiss her. "What were you thinking?" she asked with a smile once they'd parted._

 _"We walk downtown," Castle replied._

 _"Oh! Can we?" Julia asked eagerly, smiling at her sister's cry of, "Me!" in response to her._

 _"I think we can," Beckett said. When her husband looked at her in surprise she said, "We were just going to throw something together, I think I'm in the mood for Mexican now."_

 _"Me too," Castle said though he hadn't thought about where they might eat dinner yet._

 _"Can we go to the bookstore?" Julia asked._

 _"Me-" Eliza started to say._

 _"I," Castle interrupted her._

 _"Me-I want books!" Eliza said carefully before she giggled as her father kissed the top of her head._

 _"We'll go and we'll walk around too," Castle said._

 _"I think I see where you were going," Beckett told him. "A romantic stroll?"_

 _"Celebrating the fact that we can do so after this winter," Castle replied. When his wife cupped his cheek and kissed him he responded quickly before they slowly parted. "I'm looking forward to it."_

 _"Me too," Beckett replied, caressing his lower lip. She had to let go when Eliza stood up in between them and she laughed before saying, "I guess we should focus on now though."_

 _"Agreed," Castle said before they turned their attention back to their lunch and daughters._

 _Once they'd finished eating Castle and Beckett cleaned up and he was just putting the last of the trash into the picnic basket when he froze._

 _"I almost forgot," he said to his wife._

 _"What?" Beckett asked. But she wasn't too startled when her husband didn't say anything and got up, jogging to the house._

 _"What did Daddy do?" Julia asked, having been looking at the daisies in the grass with her sister._

 _"You'll see," Beckett said as she realized what he'd been talking about._

 _Returning outside Castle didn't have the picnic basket but he had something else in hand that his daughters turned to him to see. "Got this for you to celebrate summer," he said when he was close to the two, showing what he was holding._

 _"Bubbles!" Julia exclaimed, her sister squealing next to her. "Thank you, Daddy, Mommy."_

 _"You're welcome," Beckett said, walking over to them. "Eliza?" she said to get the toddler's attention. "This is not to eat."_

 _Eliza looked serious for a moment before she giggled and nodded her head before she watched her mother pouring the bubble solution into the tray the large wand had been resting in. She held the wand after her mother had given it to her and she shook it, scattering the solution everywhere._

 _"Hold on sweetie," Beckett said quickly with a laugh. She dipped it again and then blew on it, letting some bubbles out. As the toddler laughed she then handed her the wand after dipping it again and watched her start to blow bubbles._

 _"I think they're alright," Castle said, taking his wife's hand. He pulled her over to the blanket where they sat together, watching their daughters blowing bubbles towards them. "Looks like we had a great idea," he told her eventually._

 _"I think so," Beckett replied as her husband wrapped his arm around her. She watched as Julia caught another bubble on her wand and Eliza popped it. She thought that the little girl might get angry but was relieved when she only started to laugh._

 _"Don't pop them when I catch them," Julia said when she'd calmed down. "Let me do that again."_

 _Eliza watched her sister with wide eyes and clapped when she blew out more bubbles with just the one. "Me," she said with a smile._

 _"Here," Julia told her. "Dip this in the bubbles and then blow on it so they come out and then grab one."_

 _Castle did his best not to laugh when Eliza tried to do what her sister told her but she couldn't quite grasp it. "Should we head to the pool?" he asked his wife._

 _Glancing at her watch Beckett smiled and nodded saying, "Probably, we should leave at about five if we are walking."_

 _"Do we get to go swimming now?" Julia asked eagerly as she'd been listening to their conversation._

 _"Yes, help me get this put away," Beckett said, handing her the empty tray. As Castle was helping Eliza they got everything ready before they made their way to the pool with their daughters._

* * *

 _"I'm ready," Beckett said, coming down the stairs. She glanced at her husband and said, "You wanted to celebrate summer."_

 _"And if it's cold tonight?" Castle said though he was smiling at her._

 _"I'll be fine, come on," Beckett told him before Julia was rushing to her to hug her. "Let me have Eliza," she told him after letting go of their oldest._

 _"I was going to take her on my shoulders," Castle replied though he was handing her over._

 _"You can, I just wanted to carry her for a little," Beckett said, smiling at the toddler who was tangling her finger around a strand of her hair. She kissed her cheek as they left the house and once they were on the way she said, "Are you cold?" to Julia who was in between her and Castle._

 _"No, I have a sweater," Julia said as her father had made her put on a light one while they were waiting for Beckett to change into her sundress._

 _"So after dinner I say the bookstore, the toy store-" Castle started to say._

 _"I said we'd go around love," Beckett interrupted him with a smile as their daughters were giving little gasps though she wasn't sure if Eliza understood what he was saying._

 _"Come here you," Castle said teasingly to Eliza as she leaned over to him. He placed her on his shoulders and said to his wife, "Could go into a boutique."_

 _"I could but I'll see," Beckett replied as there was one she enjoyed shopping at in the downtown area._

 _The walk didn't take very long and they were soon inside the restaurant where they ate, Castle and Beckett talking about the book signings they had coming up at the beginning of June once school was over. Julia piped in about what she wanted to see in the city before they finished and stepped back out to start walking again._

 _"Where are you taking me?" Beckett asked with a laugh as her husband was pulling her over to the crosswalk with Julia._

 _"Here," Castle said as he could feel the little girl squeezing his hand since she knew already what he was planning to do._

 _"Rick," Beckett sighed as she smiled at him at the same time._

 _"Pick something out," Castle told her._

 _"What about carrying it around while we shop?" Beckett asked him once they were inside the florist._

 _"I'll ask them to hold it for us," Castle assured her._

 _"Alright," Beckett said with a nod._

 _"What about these flowers Mommy?" Julia asked eagerly, going over to her and taking her hand to pull her over to some sweet pea that were white._

 _Though she wasn't so sure about it Beckett eventually picked out a bouquet of sweet pea and iris. After her husband had paid for it and it was set behind the counter she took Julia by the hand and they left._

 _"Mommy what do the flowers mean?" Julia asked her as they were near the bookstore._

 _"The sweet pea means gratitude and the iris good news," Beckett replied._

 _Making a slight sound of annoyance Castle said, "I should have made one up and researched first."_

 _"I don't mind," Beckett assured him, squeezing his arm before they went inside._

 _After saying hello to the person at the register Castle and Beckett took their daughters to the children's books and began to look with Eliza while Julia went around on her own._

 _"What about this one?" Castle asked his wife as he showed her the book he had in his hand._

 _"I think so," Beckett replied after looking inside at it. "Can you see Julia?"_

 _"She's right there," Castle assured her._

 _"Read with her, I'll go see if she found anything," Beckett told him._

 _"Alright sweetheart," Castle said. "Let's take a quick look and see what's in this one," he told Eliza as he sat down on one of the chairs in the area before he opened the book for the toddler as she tried grabbing it._

 _"Did you find anything sweetheart?" Beckett asked as she reached the little girl._

 _"I think so," Julia said, smiling up at her. "Can I get this one?"_

 _Taking the book and flipping through it quickly Beckett nodded and said, "I think you can."_

 _"Thank you," Julia said quickly. "Is Lizzy gonna get a book?"_

 _"We found one for her," Beckett said. "At least I think so, your daddy's showing it to her right now so I have to wonder if she'll still want it."_

 _"She will," Julia said confidently. "Can we get a toy?"_

 _"Maybe just a puzzle," Beckett said._

 _"Or an arts and crafts kit," Castle suggested as they'd neared where he was with Eliza and he'd been able to hear them._

 _"Or that but we need to look at the toy store first," Beckett added._

 _"Are we gonna go now?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _"Yes," Castle replied, letting her take Eliza before he left them to pay._

 _Walking towards the front with the girls Beckett said, "You know you're very lucky."_

 _"For the toy store?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she said, "Why can't all the kids get to go?"_

 _Though that wasn't what she meant Beckett couldn't help but be proud a little of Julia's perception before she said, "Because they don't have the chance. But we do donate toys at Christmas."_

 _"Good," Julia said before Castle was walking over to her. "Are we gonna go now?"_

 _"Do you want to stay instead?" Castle asked jokingly._

 _"No," Julia said though she was looking around the front of the store. She felt her father tugging her hand so she smiled at him and then walked after him outside._

 _Going into the toy store Castle and Beckett allowed Julia to get a puzzle in the end that she made them promise they'd get to work on together before they headed down the street again to the ice cream shop._

 _"We get to have dessert?" Julia asked hopefully._

 _"You do," Castle said. "Well not just you but all of us."_

 _"You did really well with your spelling test yesterday," Beckett said._

 _Giggling shyly for a moment Julia said, "Thank you."_

 _"Thank you for studying," Castle said with a nod._

 _The family went inside and ordered their ice cream, sitting around a table and talking together as they ate their dessert._


	29. Head On Down The Road (Part 2)

_"Everyone settled?" Beckett asked her husband as she was standing at the counter of the kitchen when he walked over to her. She smiled when instead of answering he forcefully held her back against him. "I take it that's a yes."_

 _"It is," Castle replied, leaning down to kiss her exposed shoulder. "I think we should go to bed."_

 _"Not before we have some coffee," Beckett told him before she turned to him._

 _Though he wanted to protest Castle finally nodded and went over to the coffee machine. As it was starting he turned and saw his wife had sat down at the island making him say, "Are you inclined to at all?"_

 _Beckett was smiling again at that and told him, "I think so."_

 _"You think so?" Castle said, raising an eyebrow at her._

 _"I'll need to see what you can do," Beckett replied just as the machine was beeping to let her husband know it was ready. She wasn't surprised when he quickly made his cup before he made his way over to her. She took the smaller cups he had used and set them on the island before she was reaching for him. Luckily he knew already and their lips were literally crushed together the second they could close the space in between them. She wasn't startled at how hard they were kissing one another, more so when her husband's hands grasped at her back. "Wait, Rick… wait," she gasped when he was trying to reach for her zipper._

 _"Sorry, sorry," Castle said, letting go of her and stepping back with a heavy groan. "I was just…"_

 _"Tempted, I'm glad to hear that," Beckett said, handing him his espresso._

 _Though he wanted to ditch the coffees and sweep her up to bed Castle began to drink, using that to temporarily distract him from his arousal. Breathing out when he was halfway finished he said, "Something about you love…"_

 _"What?" Beckett asked, letting her cup hide her smile._

 _Castle didn't respond to that verbally, instead he ran his hand down her back before he pushed on it carefully. He was relieved when she got off the chair and he said, "Everything you do," his voice husky._

 _A shiver racing up her spine at his tone Beckett finished off her coffee before he did the same and she said, "Now we can go."_

 _Nodding his head Castle then grabbed her and led her to the stairs where they did their best not to run up in case it might wake up their daughters. But they were soon in their room and the second the door was locked he picked her up since he hadn't let go of her hand._

 _Beckett was startled when her husband carried her to the windows before she realized she knew what he wanted. "Do you think I might suggest something?" she asked him._

 _"Sure," Castle replied though his hands were already on her zipper and were close to pulling it down. He was taken aback when she whispered into his ear and he literally gulped at her suggestion. "Not sure why you think I wouldn't do that."_

 _"More if you want to," Beckett replied with a slight smirk._

 _"Oh, trust me I do," Castle replied before he crushed his lips down on hers. They were holding onto each other tightly at first but eventually he shook himself and he unzipped her sundress. After it was open he let his fingertips search her skin as much as they could before his wife was pulling away with a gasp._

 _"Help me," Beckett said rapidly, not surprised Castle looked a little concerned. Her dress was soon on the floor and as soon as it was off she then reached for his shirt while he was caressing her breasts carefully. "Wait," she told him with a smile as she moved away from him. When he nodded she went back to him and they helped one another get their clothes out of the way before coming back together, kissing passionately against the glass. "I'm ready," she murmured to him._

 _"Me too," Castle replied before they both kneeled on the floor._

 _"If your knee-" Beckett started to say._

 _"It'll be fine," Castle assured her gently, kissing at her shoulders. He waited for her to press up against the window then before he moved to be flush against her back. He was soon gasping for air as his wife was reaching for his erection, gripping it tightly and making him groan in pleasure. "Wait, here," he told her before he moved enough so the tip of his length was just barely inside of her._

 _Her breath coming out in pants Beckett waited for her husband to continue, and waited, and continued to wait as he wasn't moving. "Rick?" she asked with a gasp as right at that second, he slammed into her. She hit the glass slightly as he was rough but she didn't care since almost instantly he was sliding out of her before ramming back in again. His thrusts were hard and she tried her best to respond to him as she didn't think she could really stay still and let him do all the work. Eventually, once she was a little used to him, she reached behind her and pulled him to her so they could kiss. They did that for some time; kissing more than once and hungrily; before they were parting and she could hear her husband whispering to her, making her shiver heavily in pleasure while she listened to him._

 _"I adore you Kate," Castle told her, reaching up to her breasts to run his hands over them. "I'm not going to stop."_

 _Moaning heavily since he was fondling her as she preferred Beckett tried to speak but it became too hard to do as the pleasure was too intense to be able to force the words out of her mouth. She was also finding it difficult to stay upright and she took the chance to lean her arms against the window before her husband seemed to lose all control._

 _Groaning out an, "I'm sorry," that was long and drawn out Castle held onto his wife's hips as the sensation of her slightly clenching around him had set him off. He was a little lost before he got control of himself again and stopped. "I… actually… I'm not… sorry," he said as he was panting heavily while he leaned against her slightly._

 _"It's okay, I don't blame you I was… tighter than normal," Beckett said with a tiny smile as she was pressing her heated cheek to the cool glass. She gasped when he suddenly pulled away from her and she turned to look at him before he was helping her stand up._

 _Picking her up Castle took her to the bed where he set her down before getting up on it as well. He was going to help her lay down when she stopped him and wrapped her arms around his neck before she kissed him. He responded to her hurriedly, kissing her deeply before he laid her down while their tongues were tangling around each other. He wasn't sure how many times they kissed or how long they were but when they stayed apart he was breathing heavily and he murmured he loved her against her lips before he slid in her again. That time he was careful and intent, wanting to feel her as much as possible until they were coupled once more._

 _Kissing him again Beckett knew he was drawing things out and she allowed him to do so as she didn't want things to end so abruptly. '_ And _,' she said to herself. '_ I don't want him out of me just yet _.'_

 _Pulling back from her then Castle looked down at his wife and was about to lean down to kiss her when she reached up to cup his cheek. As she began to gently stroke his face he turned just enough to try and kiss her hand. But she playfully moved it before he reached up to take it and finally kiss at her palm._

 _"I can't get rid of you, can I?" Beckett asked him teasingly._

 _With a smirk Castle said, "After eight years? I think that's an impossibility." He then gave a hard, deep thrust against her before he said, "And at this moment would you want me to go?" When her legs, that had been hooked around his, wrapped tightly about his waist he smiled before he grew serious, leaning down and kissing her deeply. At the same time, he began to thrust in earnest and he felt her cry of joy in his mouth._

 _Beckett ran her nails down her husband's back while he was moving and as she thrust with him she was a little lost. The way he was moving within her, how deep he was getting and how their bodies were sliding against each other were all affecting her greatly. When he slowed down she breathed out, preparing herself for him ceasing his movements completely, when he did so. "You're going to kill us; both of us," she said as he pulled away a little to look at her._

 _With a smile Castle brushed his lips to hers before saying, "What a way to go." He laughed when she quickly pinched his back and then rolled his hips against her slightly, watching as she cried out and threw her head back slightly. "Good?" he asked._

 _"Yes, it's… Oh!" Beckett began before she was cut off when he thrust again. As he continued to, and worked up his speed, she was holding onto him tightly. She thought he might stop again but when he continued and kept on going she cried out heavily before warning him she was going to climax as things had gone to such a point that she couldn't resist._

 _When Beckett had reached her orgasm, Castle was very quick to follow her as he had no way of resisting the friction between them. They called each other's names and moved against each other as hard as they could as the ecstasy was rough between them both. When they finally calmed down they lay slumped on the bed for a while until Castle could move himself away from her._

 _Rolling over against his side Beckett reached over to hold onto his other shoulder before she said, "Better?"_

 _"Well, considering I'm still…" Castle said, raising his head to look at himself. "Not exactly."_

 _"You're expecting more?" Beckett asked with a smirk._

 _"That's the hope," Castle said before he laughed as she pinched at his side. He leaned down to kiss her deeply, reaching with his free hand to run it down her side slowly. When they parted he said, "I thought of something."_

 _"Oh?" Beckett said before she nuzzled her lips against his jaw gently._

 _Taking a moment to enjoy that Castle paused before he said to his wife, "I'll show you."_

 _Although she wanted to comment Beckett held back before she felt her husband running his hand over her upper arm. She held her breath slightly as he went to her hand, holding onto her fingers before entwining them with his. "This is what you had in mind?" she asked him with a smile._

 _"Just the beginning," Castle told her reassuringly. He then squeezed her gently and said, "Remember our first night?"_

 _Though there was some temptation to tease him about wanting to reminisce it was fleeting and Beckett then said, "Hard to forget. Are you referencing after that first time?"_

 _"I am," Castle said. He could feel her questioning expression and told her, "We just did this easily."_

 _"I'm not sure what you expected," Beckett said before he let go of her. As his hand slid firmly over her ass to cup it she said, "You didn't do that."_

 _"Wasn't the right time," Castle said before leaning his head down to capture her lips with his own. He turned onto his side before he pulled her up against him so he could feel her. They tangled their tongues against each other several times before they slowly parted and he told her, "This however is."_

 _"Definitely," Beckett replied with a smile before she lay on her back and brought him with her. Feeling their hips pressing together she sighed and undulated hers a bit so she could feel his erection._

 _"I didn't… ugh, I didn't deflate," Castle tried to joke though it didn't quite work as she was reaching in between them and grasping his erection._

 _"I can tell," Beckett said, lightly stroking him. "I don't know how that happened though," as he wasn't on his stomach and instead nearly nestled against her folds. She let go of him and asked, "Was your plan to just touch me?"_

 _"A little," Castle replied._

 _Pushing him away from her Beckett sat up with him and wrapped her arms around him as she'd done earlier. She kissed him lovingly and said when they parted, "I have a better idea," before she leaned to his ear and whispered into it._

 _"You have the best ideas," Castle breathed before he leaned down and began to kiss at her breasts. He stopped after doing that for a while before pulling back and waiting for her to lean back on her arms. The second she was ready he leaned back down to her and he took her right nipple into his mouth._

 _Her head falling back in her pleasure Beckett felt the urge to hold onto her husband as he was suckling eagerly at her. And while she was in a haze of pleasure as her breasts were literally tingling and sending that sensation; generating into heat; through her entire body she knew if she moved her arms she'd fall and dislodge him. So she did her best to take what he was giving to her as he cupped her other breast and began to stimulate it heavily to compensate for his mouth being at the other mound. "Don't… don't stop until I… t-tell you," she breathed out as he switched to her other one._

 _Castle gave a quick nod, making his wife cry out in joy at the sensation he caused there, before he continued. As she had requested he didn't stop until she called his name in a way that let him know she wanted him to pull away which he did. "Now what?" he asked before she was suddenly leaning over to him._

 _After Beckett had kissed her way over Castle's body they began to caress each other, touching one another as intimately as possible before they were beginning to make love. Their sighs and groans of pleasure filled the room, overpowering the fainter sound of the waves outside as they let the other take their attention fully, gratifyingly._

* * *

"Damn it," Castle groaned when he heard his phone alerting him to a text message.

"We had to stop," Beckett said as he hesitantly let her go. "I'm sure it's Alexis."

Castle nodded before he looked at the screen and said, "You're right. I guess we better talk to her." When his wife just smiled at him he said, "I have to wonder what made you think of that after thinking of the girls' bubbles."

When they'd gotten home she and her husband had gone into the office to check an e-mail from their agent and Beckett had told her husband what she'd recalled, telling him she'd also thought about their love making that night two years before. Because of the memories; she assumed; she and her husband had come together kissing as passionately as they could. She said, "It was a nice day."

"Great day," Castle said.

"Beautiful night?" Beckett asked as those were titles of Paul McCartney songs they knew.

"That too," Castle replied. When she brushed her lips to his he said, "We better go."

Nodding Beckett walked with him over to the family room and she told the girls and Martha, "Alexis is ready."

As Julia and Eliza were gasping in excitement Castle turned on the TV and once on the Skype application he said, "Hey sweetheart," to his daughter who appeared on the screen.

"Hi Dad, girls, Kate and Gram," Alexis said with a smile as he got out of her way to see the others. "How are things?"

"Good," Castle said first since he knew she was talking about their case.

"Time for some milk," Martha said.

"We really should have called you before this call… uh, Kate?" Castle asked his wife when he saw that Julia was still there.

"You didn't tell me about the case before; I wanna know," the girl said firmly.

"Alright I just hope you won't have nightmares," Beckett said with a sigh as she knew Julia wouldn't budge. With that she and Castle told the two the details of the case, ending with them seeing Brad at the house to finish with the paperwork.

"So… just because she thought," Alexis began after she and her sister were quiet for almost half a minute thinking that over. " _Thought_ that people were making fun of her husband she killed Eileen and Mr. Fletcher."

"Why didn't she kill his cousin? She did that, she was with Eileen when she was gonna get married," Julia said. "They really call that an affair?"

"They do," Castle replied. "And we thought that over."

"For some time," Beckett said. "And though it never worked out we're sure she wanted to just frame Judy Fletcher to get revenge on her."

"Probably him too," Castle commented.

"But why did he do that? Go off the building," Julia said before she clarified that.

"He knew we were going to find him," Beckett said as they'd found a suicide note at the Cora home in Mr. Cora's office that expressed his guilt at killing under his wife's direction. "And he didn't want to go to jail for something he didn't really want to do in the first place."

Alexis sighed and said, "Obviously he loved his wife. In a really sick way. Call them back so I can see how Lizzy's day went."

Once Martha and Eliza were back with them the girls went over their days together, both finishing up with their dinner at the Greek restaurant after the family fun center.

"It was sooo much fun," Julia said with a laugh as she remembered. "We didn't get to break plates-"

"Again," Eliza interrupted, pouting before she smiled.

"But Mommy and Daddy let us stand outside where the broken plates were and dance a little bit too," Julia said.

"It was fun," Eliza said, nodding her head.

"It sounds like it," Alexis said with a smile. "So I know what you did," she directed to her father and stepmother. "Gram?"

"Oh, nothing special," Martha said. "Nothing worth relating and I'm more interested in what you've been up to since we spoke to you Sunday."

Alexis smiled as she knew her grandmother was speaking mainly about her date with Louis the night before and she said, "We came back of course and got settled in again. And I think you all want to know about our dinner."

"We do!" the girls said at almost the same time.

"Okay so once we left we went over to the sandwich place; we decided we didn't want to do anything too formal," Alexis began. "We grabbed our food and went down by the river and ate there. And we came back to the house and watched a movie together."

"No more?" Eliza asked in surprise.

"That was it," Alexis said and trying not to think of how she and her boyfriend had made love after the movie. "And today we rested since we didn't have classes, though we did take a ride on our bikes around town."

"Sounds like fun," Castle said.

"It was and I have to go because I need some rest," Alexis said.

"You have school tomorrow huh?" Julia asked.

"I do," Alexis replied. "So I'll go but I definitely want to talk to you tomorrow; I just have to wonder when."

"The party," Julia told her sister as she saw Eliza looked confused.

"Everyone's coming at five," Castle said. "But we can call you at four thirty."

"Good, I'll be here," Alexis said. "Goodnight Jules, Lizzy, I love you."

"Love you too 'lexis," Eliza said first. "Have fun at school."

"I will," Alexis replied with a smile before Julia spoke.

"I love you 'lexis and I wish you could be here for the party," the girl said.

"Me too," Alexis said, really meaning that as she knew she could have handled her mother slightly if she had been there. She then turned her attention to Castle and Beckett and told them, "I love you too Dad, Kate. I'm interested in hearing what you're going to be doing tomorrow."

"We love you Alexis," Castle replied. "And I'll be interested in hearing too."

"We'll be planning for the party," Beckett said, trying not to sigh as she rolled her eyes at the smirk her husband was shooting at her.

"Of course," Alexis replied, smiling herself. "Night Gram, I love you too."

"Good night darling, I love you and of course have fun around school if you can," Martha said.

After the screen was blue Castle said to his mother, "Around school?"

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Martha replied.

"It still doesn't make sense Mother," Castle said.

"What do we do now?" Eliza asked, going to where her parents were sitting on the couch.

"Pick something to do," Beckett told her.

"Anything?" Julia asked interestedly, standing a little behind her sister.

"Go, you're wasting time," Castle told them teasingly. "What do we have left?"

" _Did she ever text you back_?" Beckett said in a low voice though she was speaking in Irish.

Shaking his head Castle said, " _Should we get something else_?"

" _Another dessert, just in case_ ," Beckett said. "What's what?" she said, seeing the girls coming back to them and holding a box.

"An early Christmas gift," Martha replied as she came back into the room after the two. "I bought this the other day and decided now was better since we're getting into the winter weather."

Glancing at the window where it was still raining Beckett said, "Did you two tell her thank you?"

"They did," Martha told her with a smile. "After they finished hugging me."

"It's bowling," Eliza said happily.

"We can see that, will we all get to play?" Castle asked. When the little girl nodded he got up and studied the picture on the box before saying, "We should take this to the hall it looks like it's a long game." He picked up the box and said, "Think I can balance this on my head?"

"No," Eliza said, giggling.

"Come on, dare me," Castle pretended to beg.

"Weren't you just saying something about them wasting time?" Beckett asked as she walked by him and took the box.

"You're no fun," Castle said in a mock petulant voice. When they caught up to her in the hall he kissed her cheek and then helped her set the game out. "This is nice," he said, seeing the plastic lane the pins were resting on at the end.

"I thought the same myself," Martha said. "Which was why I bought it."

"Shh," Eliza said to them. "I'm gonna bowl."

"Oh, so sorry," Castle said quickly before he smiled at her as she giggled.

Throwing the bowling ball down the lane Eliza held her breath and cried out in joy when she knocked the pins down. "I did it! I got…" she started to say as she went to her mother.

"A strike," Beckett said with a smile, hugging her before she went to help Julia set the pins back up before the girl was standing at the end of the lane for her turn.

Rolling the ball Julia realized why her sister had gotten a strike since she herself had thrown it down the 'lane.' She laughed when Eliza hugged her at her strike and she said, "We were lucky."

"That and you take after your mom," Castle said.

"Good," Eliza said firmly. "Now you Mommy."

"You want me to play?" Beckett asked her with a smile. She watched the girls then rush to the game and set the pins up once more before Julia came to her to hand her the small bowling ball that went with the game.

"You'll do good Mommy," Eliza said with a smile.

"We'll see," Beckett replied before she aimed and rolled the ball. She started to laugh when the girls' mouths dropped open at the fact she missed two of them and when she had calmed down enough she said, "I guess you have to throw it down or else you won't get them."

"I'll keep that in mind," Castle said as Eliza was bringing the bowling ball to him. Once the pins were set he rolled the ball down and smiled when he got a strike. "That's good advice," he said to the girls. "Mother?" he then told her as he turned to her.

"No, no, I'll just watch," Martha said as she leaned against the wall watching them.

"Do you want to want a chair?" Beckett asked her. When her mother in law shook her head she then turned back to the others as they continued to bowl until her husband held his arm out to her. "Okay, I think it's time to wrap this up," she said.

"Is it?" Eliza asked.

"Just think," Castle said as he and Beckett were picking up everything with the game. "This time tomorrow you'll have played with your friends after our dinner."

"Girls," Martha said, smiling as the two had rushed to her and were hugging her tightly. "I'm not leaving yet."

"Still," Julia said simply before she looked up at her. "Will you play with us tomorrow?"

"I may, it depends on what you want to do," Martha said.

"Bows and arrows?" Julia suggested.

"If it's not raining," Beckett commented as Eliza gasped eagerly at the idea.

"Come on, time for bed," Castle said, grabbing the little girl and placing her on his shoulders.

"Do we need to take a shower and a bath?" Julia asked.

"No, tomorrow though you'll have to before everyone comes over," Beckett said. "You'll be able to play," she told the two as they looked dismayed. "Can you take care of her?" she asked her husband, glancing up at Eliza.

"Wait," Martha said. "I'll say goodnight now, come here Eliza."

After being taken off her father's shoulders Eliza wrapped her arms around her grandmother's neck and kissed her cheek saying, "Night Gram, I love you."

"I love you too darling, sweet dreams," Martha said, sharing a kiss with her.

After Eliza was down on the floor Julia hugged her tightly and said, "I love you Gram, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight darling, I love you too and sleep well of course," Martha told her before sharing a kiss with her. "Goodnight you two; will you need my help tomorrow?"

"Go see your friends to say goodbye Mother," Castle told her. "We can handle the rest and there isn't much of it."

"Alright, I'll see you for breakfast," Martha said with a smile. She waved to them and then went to her room before she turned and watched the four splitting up, smiling again at Beckett and Julia who were talking seriously as they went down to the girl's room.

"If you have a nightmare tonight-" Beckett was saying to Julia as she was taking off her clothes.

"Mommy," the girl said in slight exasperation as she interrupted her. "I won't I know stuff happens like that." She paused and said, "Can I write in my diary?"

"Sure, but why don't we wait until your sister is in bed," Beckett told her.

"Okay," Julia said before she picked her pajama shirt off the bed. She glanced at her mother and seeing she was looking away she breathed in for a moment.

"Sweetie," Beckett said with a smile as she looked at her daughter. "Are you looking?"

"A-at what?" Julia stammered at being caught.

"I did the same thing myself when I was your age," Beckett told her. "It's going to take you a little longer I think." When Julia looked at her in slight uncertainty she said, "It was the same for me."

Though she felt as if her cheeks were on fire Julia nodded and hurriedly pulled on her shirt, trying not to sigh as she'd seen no change in her body. She'd been thinking more and more about how it would as she knew her class was going to be learning Family Life very soon. "I just wonder how I'm gonna look," she told her mother finally as she finished changing.

"I did the same," Beckett said with a nod. "But it happens."

"D-did daddy do the same?" Julia asked, knowing her face was likely blazing as she stood in front of her mother.

"Yes," Beckett replied simply. She then gathered her daughter in her arms and murmured to her, "We're all curious about growing up."

"But what's different?" Julia asked her. "I know boys are different but… the statues aren't right, are they?"

"I'll tell you when it's time," Beckett said gently. "Brush your teeth for me."

"Okay," Julia said, squeezing her mother tightly once before she then hurried to the bathroom. "Thanks so much for the _baklava_ ," she said as Beckett was soon leaning against the doorway. "It was yummy."

"I'll agree," she said with a smile. "And I think I ate too much."

"Me oo," Julia said, trying to speak around her toothbrush.

"Finish before you talk," Beckett said slightly laughingly.

As soon as Julia had done so she said, "I don't think it will take me too long to write in my diary."

"Think of something but something not too long," Beckett said, wrapping her arm around her shoulders before they left to go out to Eliza's room. "She's asleep already?" she asked her husband in a whisper, startled at the sight.

"I think the arcade was a lot for her," Castle said with a smile as he'd expected that reaction from his wife. "I said goodnight to her and Rita already."

"Go and say goodnight to her," Beckett told Julia.

Hurrying to the bed Julia whispered, "Love you Lizzy, night." She went down to Rita and hugged the Hound around her neck, kissing her head. "Thanks for not chasing our bowling ball."

"I think she followed her brother's example," Castle said in amusement before he turned his attention to his wife who was leaning down to their youngest.

"I love you Eliza, sweet dreams," Beckett told the sleeping little girl after kissing her forehead. She tucked her in the rest of the way and went to Rita, scratching behind her ears as the Hound licked at her arm. "Goodnight Rita, if you sleep under the covers with her don't knock her off the bed." She smiled when the dog merely stared at her and she leaned down, kissing the top of her head. She then left with her husband and their oldest, turning at the doorway before Castle turned off the lights. When they went to Julia's room she told him, "She wants to write in her diary."

"Oh, cool," Castle said.

Julia laughed at her father and said, "I won't take that long."

"Hurry I'm eager to do… something with you," Castle told her.

Going to her desk Julia got her diary out, got ink into the pen and wrote the date and then the beginning of the entry.

 _November 12th, 2019_

 _Today Mommy and Daddy finished their case and it was really sad what happened. It was two people who were married and the man jumped and killed himself because he didn't want to go to jail for what he did. But Mommy and Daddy said that his wife told him what to do and made him think he had to kill the lady 'cause she was making fun of him…_

 _That sounds so stupid, like a little kid… if that's what happens when you grow up that's kinda scary. But then they talked about something with 'lexis about how the man was really in love with his wife. I wonder_

Julia stopped there and then turned to her parents before she said softly, "Mommy, Daddy?"

Looking over at her at her tone Castle asked, "What's wrong?"

Shaking her head Julia asked them, "Would you do what the man did today in your case?"

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked with a slight frown.

"If something happened to… Mommy would you-" Julia started to say.

"No," Castle said firmly as she'd been talking to him. "I have you and Eliza to take care of. Also your big sister to watch out for too."

"Don't worry about it," Beckett told her as she realized what the girl was thinking. "It's not something you should think about, you'll be saying maybe or what if for a long time. And that your grandmama told me."

"Oh, okay," Julia said. She turned back to her diary and thought for a moment before she then began to write again.

 _Never mind diary, I guess if you're in love it can be hard to think smartly_

Julia stopped and then asked her parents, "Is smartly a word?"

"It is but how are you using it?" Beckett asked.

"It can be hard to think smartly," Julia told them.

"I would use clearly," Castle suggested.

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile before she went back to the book.

 _I mean clearly (Mommy and Daddy told me that), I wonder if I would feel like that about anyone?_

 _But that doesn't matter, dance class was interesting 'cause we did the marathon dance then and it was really tough. I was moving and not stopping and boy did I lie down on the floor with Peter after. I just hope when we dance at the competition things are a lot better and I have to remember not to lie down on the floor. Since Mommy and Daddy finished their case early they were there and then the best part of today happened. We got to go to the fun center!_

 _Gram was with us and we went to play mini-_

Julia stopped and scribbled out the words play and mini- before she was writing again and Castle and Beckett watched her as she scribbled a little furiously in the book.

 _First, we went to eat a snack, some Greek yogurt and then we went to play. Then we played mini-golf and after were some games at the arcade which was very fun. They had a coin slider game and I got a lot of quarters from that one, Lizzy too. We had enough tickets for bubbles and I hope it gets warm enough and stops raining for us to use them._

 _We ate dinner at the Greek place which was yummy of course before we came home and talked to 'lexis. She had a nice dinner last night with Louis so I can tell she's super happy._

There Julia paused before she made another paragraph and started to write again after thinking of how she wanted to word what to say next about that night for a bit.

 _I looked at myself again when I was changing but nothing was different and I wonder why Eve said her body's changing already? She is two years older than me so I guess that's why. But I think Mommy said it took her a while to become a woman. How come I'm so weird about that? I want to become one but then I still wanna be a kid. It makes me mad because it shouldn't be a problem. Oh well, I guess when my body wants to grow up it'll let me know._

 _One more thing, we're having the party tomorrow and I wonder how it'll go. Hopefully it's a good one since I get to see my friends!_

"All set?" Beckett asked her daughter as she saw she was closing her diary.

"Yeah, I hope I can write tomorrow," Julia said, smiling at them as she went to the bed. She stepped over to Macca first and wrapped her arms tightly around him saying, "He's so big now."

"He's full grown," Castle said as he and his wife were watching her. "Just be glad he's not tilting your bed in that direction. He smiled when the girl laughed and then came to him. "Good?" he asked her, rubbing her back as they embraced.

"Yeah thanks for today it was a lot of fun," Julia said, pulling back a little so she could look at her mother too.

"You're welcome," Beckett replied. "And like your gram said we're going to have a bigger group at dinner tomorrow so better that we had a family one tonight. And let you two play."

"Is there a reason?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Just to make up for having to work on Sunday," Castle told her.

"Oh," Julia said. "Can we play a card game?"

"Get your deck," Castle said when Beckett nodded.

"Should we be worried our daughter has a deck of cards in her room?" she asked him.

"I don't think so," Castle said nonchalantly.

"You had a deck, didn't you?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Since I was five," Castle replied.

Beckett shook her head, smiling before she turned her attention to their daughter so they could move out of the way and let her get up on the bed.

The three began to play poker, Castle and Beckett teaching their daughter to play stud poker, which took a while and nearly so long they almost passed their oldest's bedtime.

"We could have stayed up," Julia playfully protested after she slid her legs under her covers before Macca lay next to her.

"We might let you do that tomorrow but not for very long," Castle said. He glanced at his wife and said, "I didn't forget about their school."

"Say goodnight to her Rick," Beckett replied simply.

"Okay, I better," Castle said, turning to Julia.

"I think so," she said with a nod. She smiled as she wrapped her arms around her father's neck and told him, "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too, sweet dreams okay?" Castle asked.

Julia nodded before they shared a kiss and after parting she turned her attention to her mother asking, "You do love Daddy a lot, right?"

"I do but I wouldn't go to the extreme when I have you and your sisters to worry about," Beckett said, slightly dismayed that her oldest was still asking about that.

"Even 'lexis?" Julia said.

"Yes," Beckett said. "You don't need to worry sweetie," she then said as her daughter hugged her. "Concentrate more on tomorrow and the party."

"Okay," Julia said. She pulled back and told her mother, "I love you Mommy."

"I love you too sweetie, sleep tight," Beckett replied before they shared a kiss and she tucked her in once Julia was lying down. She pressed a kiss to her forehead before going with her husband to the doorway where they turned to check on their oldest.

Seeing Julia was closing her eyes Castle took his wife's hand and together they walked out after he shut the lights off. When they were in their room he closed the door and said, "Are you taking a shower or anything?"

"No, you?" Beckett asked as she glanced at him.

"No," Castle replied. "I guess we should change." They went over to the dresser where their pajamas were and he told her, "I was thinking of playing chess." When he saw that she was pausing he said, "Not that, just regular chess."

"Thank you," Beckett replied. "Though I wish I could muster the effort for the other chess we play."

"Me too," Castle said before he leaned over and kissed her cheek in passing before they went to the bed to change.

After they'd brushed their teeth Beckett set up their chess set on the bed as her husband was getting them some tea. When she finished soon after she got up carefully and went to the windows to look outside. It was still raining but she could see the waves breaking down on the beach. "We might not be able to walk tomorrow," she told her husband when he opened the door.

"I had a feeling," Castle said. "Hopefully the girls won't mind again."

"We've walked almost every day up to this point," Beckett said as she turned to go back to the bed before she found that he was right in front of her. "And we'll impress upon them the point that you and I need to wrap everything up."

"If it's still raining," Castle replied as they went over to the bed together.

"Oh, now you're changing your mind?" Beckett asked with a smile, sitting carefully with her mug.

Shrugging Castle took his phone out of his pocket and asked, "Want to listen to music?"

"I'm guessing you have a song so yes," Beckett replied.

"You've heard it already," Castle told her.

"Yes, but we're not dancing and you look eager for me to know which it is," Beckett said.

" _Have I told you I love you lately_?" Castle asked her.

" _I love you too, hurry and make your first move_ ," Beckett urged him.

" _Wait_ ," Castle said.

Beckett jumped slightly at the sound of the music at the beginning of the song before she realized which it was. She glanced at him before he was moving one of his pawns and she needed to pay attention to the game as well as the lyrics.

 _How I love you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _How I love you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _How I miss you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _How I miss you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _'Till you're here by my side  
Now only you know how to dry up  
All of those tears that I've cried_

 _Here with our love  
Now only you know how to lay it down  
Like it came from above_

 _You know it's you that I love_

 _Now don't let me wait too long  
Now don't let me wait too long  
Now don't let me wait too long  
Now don't let me wait too long  
Now don't let me wait too long_

As those lines were being sung in between some instrumentals Beckett smiled across the chess board at her husband as she recalled it when Skye and her band had played the song while rehearsing.

"I think that would be Mary singing those lines," Castle commented. "At least internally."

"And let me guess," Beckett said quickly after another line was sung. "You for me."

"Of course," Castle said before he laughed while she playfully tossed his knight at him. He set it down and quickly grabbed her hand to squeeze it tightly before they focused their attention on the game and the song yet again.

 _'Till you're here by my side  
Now only you know how to dry up  
All of those tears that I've cried_

 _Here with your love  
Now only you know how to lay it there  
Like it came from above_

 _You know it's you that I love_

 _So don't let me wait too long  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _How I miss you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _How I miss you baby  
So don't let me wait too long_

 _Don't let me wait  
Don't let me wait, don't let me wait too long_

"I think George must have had a marathon recording that," Beckett said.

Though he was slightly disappointed at her going to the singer himself Castle tried his best not to show it and said, "Skye too remember?"

"I do," Beckett said before she took his other knight. As he was looking down at the board she waved to him and when he glanced up at her she leaned over. She was relieved when he did so too and she kissed him before saying, "Thank you."

"I should have played this in DC but forgot about it," Castle said before he brushed his lips against hers and then sat up straight.

"True but this sounds like one of George's songs to a deity," Beckett said. "Don't worry," she added quickly just in case he might think she wasn't touched by his choice. "I know why you picked it."

"It's either way with George," Castle commented. "Well…" he said after he paused for a moment. "Except for _Dark Sweet Lady_."

"Definitely for Olivia," Beckett said with a nod. "What?" she asked when he paused in reaching for his bishop piece.

"No, just thinking," Castle said hurriedly.

"Play it another time love," Beckett said with a smile. "I'm about ready to get some sleep."

"Yeah this is almost done anyways," Castle said as he looked at the board. He glanced at his wife but remained quiet until he had checkmated her king. "Nice, it was close," he said as he cleaned off the board to put the pieces away.

"I almost had you after you got my last pawn," Beckett replied.

"That's where I got worried," Castle replied. He watched her pulling down the covers after he set the chessboard on the coffee table and asked, "Fireplace?"

"Leave it," Beckett told him. "We're going to sleep soon."

"It's only nine," Castle pretended to complain as he went over to the bed.

"We're not going to sleep right this second," Beckett told him. "And I don't want to be exhausted at the party tomorrow," she added, climbing onto the bed and underneath the covers.

"That's true," Castle said as he joined her. He then kissed her temple as soon as he was next to her and he said, "But since we're not going to bed right now…"

"Before you start," Beckett said as she knew what he was suggesting and she agreed with the idea wholeheartedly. "Play the song."

"Right now?" Castle said in slight surprise.

"We've done this before," Beckett told him with a smile.

"Not often," Castle said. But he then got his phone again and pressed play before he turned to her and while the song was playing he kissed her deeply, neither of them stopping as they slipped into multiple kisses while the song continued.

 _My dark sweet lady  
You really got to me  
You gave me everything  
I've really fallen_

 _You came and helped me through  
When I'd let go  
You came from out the blue  
Never have known what I'd done without you_

 _My dark sweet lady  
Your heart so close to mine  
You shine so heavenly… and  
I love you dearly_

"I didn't think we were going to last all the way through," Castle told her with a smile.

"You were intending that from the start, weren't you?" Beckett asked though she was smiling too.

"That was my hope," Castle replied, feeling his breath getting under control again.

"That was a short song," Beckett pointed out to him.

"All the more to just pack those kisses in," Castle said, exaggerating his words and gesturing with his hands around her.

Beckett smiled and shook her head before she said, "You're lucky I don't mind that."

"I don't see why you would," Castle replied. When she looked at him he told her quickly, "It's enjoyable for us both."

Beckett brushed her lips against his before she said, "I'll agree but don't try doing that again."

"I will," Castle said.

Giving a mock sigh Beckett tried to move away from him when she gasped as her husband was suddenly pulling her onto his lap. "Yes?" she asked teasingly.

"Nothing I just didn't want to let you go to bed yet," Castle told her.

"What if I was about to fall asleep?" Beckett asked him.

"Then I'd tuck you in," Castle replied. "But I wouldn't let go of you."

Beckett rolled her eyes and said, "A little sappy."

"It is but I'm standing by the sentiment," Castle replied.

Beckett laughed softly before she said, "Alright but watch whatever else you say. It's late and I don't want all that sap; too sweet for my stomach."

Castle laughed himself in response and brought her to him, kissing her gently on the lips before they deepened it at the same time. Their tongues tangled together for a very long time before finally they parted. He held her close against him, feeling her leaning her cheek to his shoulder before he gently rubbed her upper arm.

"I love you Rick," Beckett murmured.

"I love you too Kate," Castle said, turning his head to press against the side of hers a little more. They sat like that for a long time before he began to speak saying, "Kate, tomorrow we-" before he stopped himself as he looked down at her enough to see that his wife was asleep. He smiled at the sight and then helped her move so she could lie down.

"It's alright," Castle said gently as she awoke slightly. When she relaxed again he made sure they were both covered completely before he lay down and brought her against his side. Gently kissing her forehead, he watched Beckett cuddle up against him and he held her tighter. He murmured again that he loved her in Irish before he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly to the warmth of his wife secure within his arms.


	30. Your Heart So Close To Mine

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Really glad to get the feedback for the last chapter that I did, so let me get right to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Great that you thought it was good writing for Julia in the flashback, it was fun writing her there! And it was nice you like that the adventures will never stop for Castle and Beckett and their family, and they won't, lol, hard to see that happening for them),

MsNYC (I wasn't too surprised that you thought younger Julia and Eliza was cute and that you loved it, but of course I was happy that you did! And as for your question you'll have to see how that works out in the future, can't answer now or else it would be a spoiler, but I wasn't surprised you were wondering that I know a lot of readers are. I had to laugh at your comment that Castle and Beckett are too freaking cute sometimes but I did like seeing that. And I'm happy you found the end of the chapter was so sweet, I wanted this chapter to be with the way the case was going. Speaking of that, you're right, Julia doesn't need to worry about her parents, they are good for each other and not crazy like the Coras ended up being. So pleased to see you thought it was great writing as usual! Not surprised that you mentioned you're still looking forward to another Caskett baby!) and

vetgirlmx (Great seeing you thought it was a very nice chapter. And I'm glad that you saw they really enjoyed their family times since I wanted it to be apparent they did, lol. I wasn't surprised you mentioned that Martha joined them in the games since as you said it doesn't happen often. So pleased that you really loved the flashbacks too! And I got what you said about the flashbacks that'll fill in those years from the day Eliza was born to when I started the story Where Footprints Never Go where you know a little bit about it but not really details, it's why I'll write those ones, lol. And yeah, I figured for Julia; who wants her parents to be in love but not that much in love that it was all twisted and evil; it would be terrifying to know about what the Coras did so she'd want to make sure with her parents they wouldn't go down that path. I wasn't surprised you noticed that too. I had to laugh a bit that you mentioned you get the feeling that the dinner party will be next since I figured you'd be thinking that. And I'm also not surprised that you're dreading it but also curious about it, wanting to know what happens there. Great to know that since of course that means I know you want to read more and now you can go ahead and do that!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Dark Sweet Lady_ by George Harrison, from his album _George Harrison_.

Your Heart So Close To Mine

"Bye Mommy, Daddy, see you at the dance class," Julia said before she hurried up the stairs to make it to her classroom before the bell rang.

"So we need to…" Castle started to say as he and his wife hurried out of the school before the gates were closed.

"First see the horses," Beckett reminded him.

"Right," Castle replied. "And then the market to grab lunch."

"And the bakery to pick up the other dessert," Beckett said finally.

"Lucky we don't have much else to get or do," Castle commented as they reached their car they'd brought though it wasn't raining.

"Would you want to work on our book at all?" Beckett said.

"Maybe," Castle replied with a nod. "Let's see how long it takes to do everything else."

"We're not riding," Beckett told him with a smile before he left the parking lot.

"No but we don't have to rush," Castle said. "It'll be nice to have some time off."

"Which we do more than write if you think about it," Beckett said, smiling again. She rolled her eyes, still smiling, as he shrugged and looked out the window while they made their way to the western edge of town and the stables. When they got out of the car she asked her husband, "How do you want to move on from Sky getting out of the hospital?"

"Well we need to get back to the case," Castle replied.

"But it's still afternoon on the day she leaves and they were basically thrown out of the LAPD station," Beckett reminded him as he took her hand and they started to walk. "So we could have something before they tell Sky about what they have of the case."

"Alright we'll have to think about that and then see what we can get set up," Castle replied before he let go of her to let her go to Alex who was sticking his head out of his stall.

"I wish you had another game," Beckett told her husband as she was gently scratching at the horse's ears.

"I will soon enough," Castle replied as he walked over to her after greeting Julius. "Lottie looks like she's doing well still."

"She does," Beckett said as they were walking over to the horse together. She patted Lottie's neck as the mare pressed her nose against her and said, "She is."

"I'm surprised Julia was okay with us coming here without her," Castle commented.

"She knows we don't have time," Beckett replied. "Tomorrow."

"That's about the only chance we have coming up next," Castle said. "Do you want to talk to Charlie?"

"I don't need to," Beckett replied. "I can tell she's doing well."

"Are we good?" Castle asked.

"Innis?" Beckett replied with a question.

"After you," Castle replied, going to the stall where the pony was. "I think they're all doing well," he commented when they reached the filly.

"They are," Beckett said absently, patting the neck of the mare that started nibbling at her sleeve.

"Are we continuing on?" Castle asked his wife.

"Yeah, let's go," Beckett said with a smile. She took his hand and they walked out to the car again where she slid behind the steering wheel. "I'm making lunch by the way," she told him as she drove to the market.

"Really," Castle stated.

Beckett glanced at him and said, "You need to have a turn to pick up Eliza."

"Oh, thank you I forgot about taking the chance for that," Castle said. They were both quiet then before he thought of something and said, "About our book, we should have something with Moor and Green."

"Like what?" Beckett asked.

"Well Moor wasn't with Green this whole time," Castle replied. "A reunion?"

"With Green being relieved?" Beckett asked him.

"I would like to have Moor thinking about wanting to marry her sooner than they discussed," Castle told her.

"That's what happened with you?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"From time to time but it never really worked out before we did," Castle said. "I did tell you once I wanted-"

"To take me to San Francisco," Beckett interrupted before she parked the car. "I remember. While that would have been romantic," she began. "I would have told you to take us to a beach over there."

"And I would have complied," Castle said with a smile. "We need to be near water."

Beckett smiled and said, "But while that is romantic I would have wanted to be here at home."

"And luckily we were," Castle said as they were making their way up to the supermarket, her arm looped in his.

"I need to get our lunch," Beckett said when they were inside and her husband grabbed a smaller basket. "And we just need the platter we ordered."

"We're splitting up?" Castle asked.

"It would be best," Beckett said.

"But I prefer your company," Castle pretended to complain.

"I do too, but you'll be able to get to me faster," Beckett replied. She squeezed his arm and then took the basket over to the aisle where the Mexican cuisine items were kept.

Castle, going to the deli in the back, spoke with the manager there before he was given the appetizer platter he and Beckett had ordered. "It looks great Steve," he told the man with a nod.

"Big party?" the man asked jovially.

"Mostly friends," Castle replied. "But it's in my mother's honor."

"Sounds fun, enjoy the tray," Steve told him.

"I will," Castle said before saying goodbye to the man and leaving the counter to search out his wife. He found her looking at a package in a nearby aisle before he walked right up to her.

"I know it's you love," Beckett replied. She then looked up at him saying, "Since we're going with Irish tonight I thought Latin for lunch."

"Then I really need to pick up Eliza," Castle commented.

"You do," Beckett said. "Enchiladas?" she asked him.

"Sounds good," Castle said though she was already putting the tortillas in the basket. "You already knew," he told her teasingly.

"Of course I did," Beckett told him. She squeezed his arm again and said, "Did they have anything of fruit?"

"Oh, they did have a party tray ready there," Castle replied before he led her back over to the deli.

"Hello Ms. Beckett," Steve said when he went over to the counter at the sight of the two. "Your party tray is no good?"

"It's fine," Beckett said with a smile. "We'd like the fruit tray."

"Of course," Steve said. "Sounds like it'll be some party."

"Likely it will," Beckett replied as she took the tray from him. "Thank you so much Steve."

"Happy to help," the man replied with a smile before saying goodbye to them.

"Alright," Beckett said. "Is there anything you wanted to get?"

"No, I think we're alright," Castle replied, going over to get some chicken for their lunch with her. He followed her to the front then and paid for the groceries before they went out to their car to get it loaded. He let her drive them back home and he said, "When do you need to start lunch?"

"I was thinking ten forty-five; it takes an hour and a half," Beckett replied.

"Oh…" Castle said before he looked at his watch.

"Not that long?" Beckett asked though she had a feeling that it wasn't the case as their daughters' school began at eight and they hadn't taken long at the stables or market.

"Then we have two hours," Castle said.

"I realized," Beckett replied. "So we put everything away and then take the dogs on a walk."

"A walk?" Castle asked in surprise. He realized something and said, "We haven't been able to take them."

"I want to walk them down the beach for at least twenty minutes," Beckett told him as she stopped to wait for the gate to open. "And when we come back we'll work on the story." As she went down the driveway she said, "I was thinking of tiring them out."

"They wouldn't attack our guests… and you're talking about Meredith," Castle started to say before he trailed off and corrected himself.

"They were really unhappy when she was there," Beckett pointed out.

"Okay," Castle replied before they reached the garage. He helped his wife put away the groceries until they got Macca and Rita and went down the beach, going the opposite direction than they usually did, away from the Foster home. "If we work for an hour," he began.

"Well we could have them talking about something else, the case," Beckett said.

"I don't know, if they're going to talk to Sky about that then what would be the point?" Castle asked.

"I know, too repetitive," Beckett replied. "Then we'd have to make the moment shorter."

"And we need something to wrap up the chapter," Castle added.

"We can think of that as we go," Beckett told him.

"You hate doing that," Castle said quickly in response.

Beckett smiled a little and said, "Sometimes there's no real choice and sometimes being spontaneous does help. Remember the idea you had about us writing Moor and Green going out to the road in the Halloween book?"

"That was more so I could write Moor ogling Green in her wet costume," Castle said, pretending to be sheepish.

"Oh, I knew that already," Beckett replied. She smiled again at her husband's startled look and said, "It wasn't really hard to figure out."

"Hey, your dress was stunning and even though you weren't wet outside…" Castle began. He laughed when Beckett pushed him playfully aside before he went back to her. He glanced at his watch and saw it had nearly been twenty minutes, about to tell her that when she stopped completely.

Before her husband could say a word, Beckett reached for him and brought him to her so they could kiss which they soon did passionately. Their tongues tangled together and she could have easily stopped the handle to Rita's leash if the dogs hadn't returned to them and one of them pushed against her hand.

"They're so pushy," Castle said jokingly when he and his wife finally parted.

"I know but they've been alone for a while," Beckett replied. She and her husband exchanged one more kiss; far gentler and quicker; before she said, "Let them go."

"Awesome," Castle replied, getting Macca's leash off his harness. "Have fun guys," he told them.

When she was sure the two dogs were watching her Beckett snapped her fingers and pointed ahead before they took off at a run. She and her husband walked quickly arm in arm after them, knowing the dogs would stop the second she whistled as they were trained to know that meant to stop running completely. Since they had to go so fast she and Castle were silent, trying to withstand the cold breeze that was hitting them head on before they were near to home.

"You never told them to stop," Castle commented when they walked up to their backyard and found the dogs were sitting on the grass. "Smart."

"Thank you, I told you I wanted them to be tired," Beckett replied. They went inside and once the dogs were set with some water in the kitchen she and Castle ducked into their office before they came together to kiss before they would need to focus on their writing.

* * *

"I think it'll work out," Castle said when it was nearly a quarter to eleven.

"Read it back to me," Beckett said from where she was laying on the couch.

" _After parting Moor asked Green if she was alright and she immediately nodded before telling him, 'It was a relief to see her up and walking after seeing her waking up. We need to tell her about the case, she tried to ask about it but we were interrupted_ ," Castle started. He then went on the read the three pages they'd written, stopping just before the two characters went to see Sky and the woman's wife. "You're good love," he told her.

"It was a lucky flash of inspiration," Beckett said with a smile as she stood up to go over to the kitchen. As they'd been writing she'd come up with the idea of Moor and Green getting into a slight argument about getting married as they had decided to have Green take her own fear of their relationship being discovered and Moor having Castle's desire to marry a little sooner.

"You know it is funny we didn't argue about that," Castle said as he followed her to the kitchen.

"Sit," Beckett told him firmly. "I'm making this on my own."

"Sure," Castle replied as he went hurriedly to the island and sat there.

"And really, you don't have to argue constantly to have a good relationship," Beckett pointed out to him while she got everything out onto the counter she needed.

"No," Castle said slowly. When his wife looked up at him he told her, "At the beginning."

"First," Beckett told him firmly. "We weren't in a relationship and second you annoyed me."

"But you were still attracted to me," Castle replied. He couldn't help laughing a bit at her groan and the way she tilted her head back in obvious irritation. "Still are."

"Not when you're fishing," Beckett said, pointing some celery at him.

"What's that for?" Castle asked.

"I'm moving it out of the way," Beckett explained before she turned back to the fridge. After she finished she began to prepare the enchiladas, knowing her husband was watching every move she was making.

"This used to bother you," Castle eventually said as she was finishing with the shredded chicken.

"It did but you grow used to it," Beckett told him teasingly. "What time is it?"

"I have to go soon," Castle replied, looking at his watch. "Will they be ready when we come back?"

"A little bit after… oh no," Beckett said with a groan.

"What?" Castle asked in surprise.

"We forgot dessert," Beckett told him.

"Well… can you keep it warm for a little longer?" Castle asked.

"You'll take Eliza?" Beckett said.

"Sure, she'll love helping me pick out cupcakes. And yes, I am getting cupcakes," Castle replied.

"Okay," Beckett said laughingly. "I guess it worked out since we got the dogs out on a walk."

Glancing at the two laying near their food and water bowls behind him Castle commented, "They might regain their energy."

"Then we can have the girls run around with them outside," Beckett said easily. She finished with the red sauce for the enchiladas and with them in their pan she took it to the oven. "Okay, I think it's time for you to go," she said to her husband once they were cooking.

"It is," Castle replied as he got up while she was washing her hands. He went to the foyer with her and once they were there he threw on his coat and outer layers before he turned to her. "Miss me?" he asked.

"Rick," Beckett said simply.

"Alright, I'll tell her you said we can pick out a thousand cupcakes," Castle said as he opened the door.

"She wouldn't believe it," Beckett said simply. "And this isn't _Cupcake Wars_."

"No but I could still try," Castle replied. He smiled when she rolled her eyes and then leaned over, kissing her tenderly on the lips. "Love you," he murmured.

"I love you too," Beckett replied before he left. She sighed and then hurried over to the kitchen to start on the salad to go with their meal; wanting to finish in time to go out onto the sidewalk to meet her husband and their youngest as they returned from the bakery after the school.

Before she could get started on it Beckett's phone started to ring and she paused in washing the lettuce to pick it up saying, "Beckett?", hoping whoever it was wouldn't take long so she could get back to finishing the meal.

* * *

The dogs were sitting at the side of the island, watching Beckett cut some carrots for a salad which she could see out of the corner of her eye. "I can't give you guys any of this," she finally told them with a smile. "But I can let you come out with me to the sidewalk to see them coming home." When their tails started to wag she smiled and walked to the foyer, throwing on her coat and scarf before taking them out with her without a leash as she knew they would remain with her.

Standing in front of the door in the wall Beckett looked down the street where she knew her husband their youngest would be arriving from, smiling a little to herself and wanting to see them badly. She was startled to hear a car coming from the other direction and turned her head in time for it to pass her and park against the curb. "Meredith," she said as the woman stepped out.

"Hello," the woman said. "Is Ricky here he told me bring some cookies for dessert."

"We realized we needed it," Beckett replied. "And he's picking up our youngest from school."

"Oh," Meredith said, losing the smile that was on her face. "Good," she said.

Beckett was startled when the woman nearly shoved the pink box in her hands and she frowned before she tried to speak.

"You must have some kind of power over him," Meredith said.

"Really, you're going to go with me bewitching him or something?" Beckett said in exasperation, knowing then the woman had likely been waiting for that moment to speak to her alone for some time.

"You must have, what exactly does he see in you," Meredith stated.

"Look I know you probably hate me because Rick seems to be happier with me but that was his decision," Beckett said. "Obviously he doesn't want your casual relationship you had before."

"I gave him his first child," Meredith almost seemed to hiss. "I was his first wife."

"Yes, and you were," Beckett said trying very hard to hold onto her self-control as she could almost feel the scorn the woman was giving her through her look. "But that's in the past tense. Why are you here?"

"What hold do you have on him? You pushed him away for years, you run away like a coward here to the Hamptons and what's worse you give him a child that's not even your-" Meredith began to say before she was interrupted

Beckett would find that she had no remorse slapping the woman on the cheek, throwing down the box of cookies in the process. And she had no guilt as she told her furiously, "Don't you _ever_ imply that Julia is anything but my child. She is _our_ daughter, mine and Rick's, and we love her as much as our daughter we had together. I am the love of his life as much as he's mine and it's because we share that that we can't get enough of each other emotionally, physically and we never will. You had your chance to have that with him but you literally threw him and your daughter away. I won't make that same mistake because nothing is more important than my husband and our daughters. All three of them." And with that she whirled around and went through the door in the wall, almost slamming it behind her.

Leaning against it she covered her face with her hands as she heard the slam of the car door on the street and when the car peeled off she sighed and called the dogs; that'd gone inside the second she told them to after seeing Meredith; to go into the house with her. She went to the kitchen to make sure lunch was finished and ready; and to distract herself, when she suddenly remembered her husband and Eliza. She went hurriedly back to the porch to see that the gate was beginning to open, Castle and Eliza inside the car, as she walked to the garage wondering what she could tell him about his ex-wife and the box of cookies she knew was likely still strewn on the sidewalk.

* * *

"Daddy!" Eliza cried out in joy when she caught sight of her father. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's making lunch so today's my turn," Castle said as he picked her up. "Do you want me to go home and let her come back?"

"No Daddy," Eliza giggled.

"Well good because guess what?" Castle asked her. When Eliza widened her eyes, he chuckled slightly and told her, "We get to go to the bakery."

"Yeah?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Yep, your mom and I almost forgot to get some cupcakes," Castle told her. Before they could leave though one of Eliza's teachers came over then to ask him about Eliza joining her sister's dance class and if others in her class or the same age would be able to join too. It took them a while to speak but finally they were leaving the woman and as he walked out to the car he asked his daughter, "How was school?"

"Fun," Eliza replied with a wide smile.

"That's all I get?" Castle asked when he reached the car and set her down.

"Yeah, I'll say at lunch with Mommy," Eliza told him.

"I expected that," Castle said while he was buckling her into her car seat. "But I still had to try." He closed the door on the little girl's laughter and went around to the driver's seat before going over to the bakery. "We're going to get twenty of them so two of ten different ones."

"Can we pick decorations?" Eliza asked hopefully as they walked into the shop.

"Of course," Castle said before the owner of the bakery was calling out to them.

"Rick, Eliza," the woman said with a smile. "What can I help you with so early today?"

Smiling at the reference to the fact they usually went to the place in the evening Castle said, "We've got a party tonight and we're in need of twenty cupcakes."

"Fantastic, what would you like?" the baker asked.

"Let her decide," Castle said. When he saw that Eliza was looking up at him he said with a nod, "Yep, you get to choose them all." He was about to tell her he would be there to help her when he heard his phone ring. Taking it out he was startled to see that it was Alexis and he said to the baker, "Would you mind helping her?"

"What's wrong Daddy?" Eliza asked him.

Not sure what compelled him to say it Castle told her, "Just my agent, oh mine and your mom's. Is it okay if I talk to them?"

"Yeah, I can pick," Eliza said. "But you have to see after if they are good ones."

"I will, I promise," Castle said with a nod. He then hurried to the back since the baker had brought Eliza back around to choose from there. "Alexis what is it?" he asked in a low voice.

"It's Mom," the young woman said, obviously distressed. "She's going to talk to Kate- she's there, shh."

Though he wanted to say something Castle soon heard his ex-wife talking and then his wife replying. He winced when he eventually heard the shove noise of what he guessed was a box against his wife's coat. And then he covered his eyes with his hand as Meredith began to berate Beckett. But when the sound of the slap cut off his ex-wife he sucked in a breath of air before Beckett was literally scolding Meredith. The fervency in his wife's voice made him incredibly proud as did what she was actually saying and he reminded himself he was an incredibly lucky man with how much he could tell she loved him.

"Dad? Go I'll talk to her," Alexis said as they heard the slam of what she guessed was her mother's car door.

"If you need my help-" Castle began though he wanted to talk to Meredith himself.

"Did you hear that Alexis?" the woman was then saying.

Castle hurriedly hung up his phone but reminded himself he would talk to her at the party later that day. ' _If she even shows up after that_ ,' he told himself as he pocketed his phone and used the time to try and calm down so Eliza wouldn't sense anything was wrong. He was relieved at the idea that his ex wouldn't bother going to the dinner in the end, and he walked over to Eliza before he paused. "Sweetheart," he told her when he was close. "Ready to go?" suddenly in a hurry to go to his wife as he knew she was likely unsettled by the argument; knowing she didn't normally slap people on the face.

"Yeah, do you like them?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"They're beautiful," Castle told her seriously. "Ready to go home? I want to see your mom really badly."

"Me too," Eliza said before she watched him pay and then picked up the clear box the cupcakes were in. She was humming as they were driving home and after they were pulling up the driveway she said, "Mommy's there!"

"I see," Castle said with a smile though he wasn't surprised to see the troubled look the instant before his wife was smiling at them. He hurried to get out of the car and help Eliza out, knowing that their daughter would definitely cheer her up as the little girl had been doing that for him on the drive home. He followed Eliza a little more slowly as she ran to Beckett before his wife looked at him before he hurried the rest of the way to her so he could embrace them both. He felt Beckett lean against him for a moment, not surprised, before she pulled back to look at him. He was about to speak when she beat him to it and asked them both a question first.

"Did you take her to get the cupcakes?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah! Joy said that I could work there when I get bigger!" Eliza exclaimed happily.

Turning to her husband Beckett was slightly startled to see that he looked surprised but instead of asking him why he hadn't been with their daughter in the bakery she ushered them inside. "The enchiladas are going to get too cold," she told them as they took off their coats and hung them up in the foyer. "So we should eat."

"Are you hungry?" Castle asked the little girl.

"Yeah, I can wash my hands by myself," Eliza told them before she hurried over to the bathroom.

"Rick-" Beckett started to say, turning to him.

"Wait," Castle said before he pulled her with him to the kitchen. " _I heard_ ," he said simply after they were standing next to the stove.

" _You heard, how_?" Beckett asked, stunned.

"Alexis _called me when we were inside the bakery and she told me her mother was going to talk to you_ ," Castle explained, glancing over to the hall where Eliza was stepping out and hugging Rita. " _Apparently_ Meredith _had her on her cell phone at the time… I guess to try and get you to say something disparaging of me or_ Alexis _herself; I don't know. But_ Alexis _had me on her line as well and we both heard_."

Covering her face with her hands Beckett said, " _I've never done that before_ ," with a slight groan though she was trying to keep her voice down.

" _We're both in agreement she deserved that_ ," Castle told her firmly as he took her hands. " _What she said was… inexcusable and believe me, I don't care who_ Julia's _related to biologically. She's our daughter and I love her as much as_ Alexis _and_ Eliza. _And I'm… desperately in love with you_."

" _So am I_ ," Beckett told him seriously. She then looked with him over to their youngest who was letting the dogs playfully chase her around the hall and she then said, " _I really think she took your rejection a little hard, she thought you'd sleep with her_."

" _I can see that now; I should have before and spoken to her_ ," Castle said with a sigh. " _Should I call her, tell her not to come_?"

" _She won't, not after that_ ," Beckett said. " _But you should call her after lunch if you want to talk with her_."

" _I'll see_ ," Castle said before he started to turn to get some plates when his hand was grabbed.

" _Was the box of cookies still outside_?" Beckett asked.

Shaking his head Castle said, " _We could hear her moving around before the door closing, I guess she picked them up_."

" _She might try to keep it from you_ ," Beckett said. " _Or deny it if you ask her I guess to make it look like I'm lying_." She let out a sigh and said, " _Let's… forget about this_."

"Right, Eliza," Castle said, switching back to English. "Help me set the table we really need to eat."

After the little girl helped with the table the three sat down to eat together, Eliza telling them about her day at school.

"Will I tell 'lexis about it?" the little girl was asking as she waited for her parents to wash the dishes when they'd finished.

"Of course," Beckett replied. "We're calling her right before the party remember. Now," she said as she and Castle finished. "Let's get some of your worksheets so you can play with us before the party."

Eliza rushed to her parents and took their hands before they went together to the family room skipping in between them eagerly as she couldn't wait for that night.

* * *

Stepping out of the shower Julia dried off as quickly as she could before she threw on the outfit that she was going to wear for the party. As soon as she was done she went to Eliza's room, seeing her sister with their grandmother.

"Hello Julia," Martha said with a smile. "You look very cute kiddo."

"Thanks, you look pretty too," Julia said, beaming back at her. "Think Mommy is ready now?"

"Go ahead and check," Martha replied.

"Mommy wants us to play with the dogs," Julia said before she left with her little sister.

"I know and I'll join you," Martha promised the two. She laughed softly when they hugged her together and watched them leaving hurriedly; hoping her daughter in law was ready as she didn't think the girls would want to wait any longer.

"I texted Alexis," Castle said to his wife in their room. "She's almost done with her essay and she'll text me when she's ready to talk to us."

"Alright, hopefully it's sooner rather than later," Beckett said as she stepped into the bedroom.

"Louis will remind her before it's ten over there," Castle said. He was staring at her and was about to grab her to pull her to him before he heard footsteps coming down the hall. "I think they're ready," he told her.

Beckett was about to reply when her husband was suddenly kissing her cheek. She glanced at him with a slight smile on her face before she looked ahead to their daughters as they rushed inside. "You two look great," she told them as the girls made a beeline for her, hugging her as hard as possible.

"You too Mommy," Eliza said looking up at her. "Are you ready?"

"I am," Beckett replied with a slight laugh. "So is your daddy."

"Hi," Castle said jokingly to the girls when they looked at him. He sat down at end of the bed as they hurried over to him and wrapped their arms around him. "But your mom's right you look ready for the party."

"You too," Eliza said before she giggled and kissed his cheek.

"We better go," Beckett said as she was checking the time. "You two are going to lose all your time playing."

"What about 'lexis?" Julia asked as they let go of Castle to let him stand up.

"She's still working on her paper but she'll try to finish soon so we can talk to her," Castle assured them, holding Julia's hand as they all walked out into the hall.

"I hope it's soon," Eliza said seriously, looking up at her mother.

"We'll see," Beckett replied as they made their way downstairs. She helped her youngest into her coat and outer layers as Martha was getting hers. And once the girls were set she sent them off outside with their grandmother and the dogs. "R- Rick," Beckett said as she was about to ask him if he was ready to get started before she saw that he was ogling her.

"You can't blame me," Castle said, having a hard time taking his eyes off her legs as she was wearing leggings with her longer top for the party.

"No but try not to do that while everyone's here," Beckett said as they walked over to the kitchen together.

"But I can't help it," Castle pretended to whine.

Rolling her eyes Beckett didn't say anything; as she was trying not to smile at the same time; and she began to get things out of the cabinets and pantry with her husband's help. Eventually they had done all they could and while he was calling the caterers to make sure the food would be at the house on time she went to the parlor to look out at the backyard to check on their daughters.

"Okay?" Castle asked when he came up to her and looked out of the window with her.

"I'm fine, just seeing what they're doing exactly," Beckett said with a smile as the girls were both throwing tennis balls for Macca and Rita.

"They're going to love having another dog," Castle commented. He heard his wife laugh slightly before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to hold onto the other. "We are so playing with them after we eat… at some point and if they want to let us play while their friends are here."

"Of course," Beckett replied, smiling. She then turned to him and was about to speak when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. His lips on hers she decided she could wait as his tongue was gently sweeping across her lower lip. She didn't let him go when he tried to fully pull away from her and instead initiated their next kiss.

When they managed to part after sharing a few more kisses Castle was going to speak himself when he was interrupted as the chime for the door rang. "I know who that is," he said to his wife.

"I'll get the… girls," Beckett started to say with a smile before they looked out the window and saw their daughters were running after the dogs to the door.

"Go, we'll meet you there," Castle told her.

Beckett hurried to the foyer and pressing the button to the intercom asked, "Dad?"

"It's me Katie," Jim said on the other end.

Opening it Beckett opened the front door before she stepped out to see her father making his way up the driveway. "You could have told the driver to come up," she said with a smile as she hurried over to him.

"I needed to walk; I've been on a car, a plane, train and a car again," Jim said as he set down his luggage so he could hug his daughter. "Okay?" he asked when they let go of each other.

"I'm good, so is everyone else," Beckett said as she heard the distant sound of running.

"Grandpapa!" the girls cried out when they reached him, throwing their arms around him.

"I missed you girls too," Jim said with a smile before shaking his son in law's hand and last Martha's.

"Let's go back inside," Castle said. "It's a little cold."

When they were in the house the girls followed their grandfather to his room before he unpacked quickly and took them outside with Martha again to continue playing with the dogs.

Standing at the window after she had come back from the kitchen to check on the cupcakes Beckett said, "She made good choices."

"And now we know she has a job opportunity there," Castle said with a smile.

"True," Beckett said with a soft laugh. When she felt his arm around her she was smiling herself and soon after turned to him, kissing him back gently.

Moving away from her to breathe Castle was going to speak when his text alert sounded. "I think that's her," he told his wife.

"Get the TV ready and I'll go get the girls and Dad," Beckett said as they started to leave the room. "And your mother of course."

"Of course," Castle said with a smile before they split up in the hall.

"Girls," Beckett said as she opened the door, crossing her arms immediately at the chill that seemed to burst into the house. "Alexis is ready to talk with us."

"I thought I'd have to get them to go," Martha told her daughter in law once they were all inside. "But I'm glad she didn't take too long, it's freezing out there." She glanced at the girls who were watching them and said, "Not for them though."

"Or me," Jim said, his cheeks red as he'd run around a bit with the girls to stretch his legs further.

"Put your coats on the bench and let's go; it's late for your sister," Beckett said to the two.

As soon as they had Julia and Eliza raced together to the family room, crying out at the same time, "'lexis!"

"Hey Jules, Lizzy," Alexis said once she saw them, smiling at their red cheeks. "Have you been outside?"

"Yeah, we got to go around outside with the doggies," Eliza answered first.

"We just played fetch but they had fun," Julia added.

"Good to know," Alexis said. "Now I know your guests are going to get to the house soon so you better tell me how your days at school went."

"And tell us too," Castle commented. "Though we did hear about Eliza's day already."

"Go ahead first sweetie," Beckett told Eliza gently.

With a nod the little girl did eagerly, up until just before they called Alexis, and Julia took up her day of school immediately after. Once the girl had finished they urged their big sister to talk about her day as well which she did though it was quick since she'd just had one class and had spent the rest of the day working on her essay.

"I better let you go," Alexis said when she had finished and checked the time. "Tell me about the party tomorrow okay?"

"We will," Julia quickly agreed.

"Yeah, everything," Eliza added.

"Okay, then I love you Jules, Lizzy and I'll see you tomorrow," Alexis told them. "Have fun."

"We will, love you 'lexis," Julia said first.

"I love you too," Eliza said. "Have fun too."

"I will," Alexis said laughingly. "And I love you too Dad, Kate, Gram and you too Jim. Nice to see you're back."

"Thank you, Alexis," Jim replied with a nod and a slight smile on his face.

"We love you," Beckett said first. "Hopefully you'll be able to talk a little more tomorrow."

"Yeah, I won't have the essay and Louis is making dinner this time," Alexis replied.

After they said goodbye to the young woman Castle pretended to jump when the girls got up from the coffee table and turned to the rest of them as the chime for the door rang. "The party is about to begin," he said as they laughed, clapping his hands together.

"Let's go and see who's first," Beckett said, standing up from the couch as her husband and mother in law were doing so too.

As they stood on the porch Martha said, "I would have been shocked if it wasn't them."

Looking over at his wife as she was looking at her cell phone Castle caught her gaze before she slipped it into his hand. Seeing the message from his daughter he nodded slightly and then turned his attention to the Fosters who were walking up to the house.

After they'd greeted the family Castle and Beckett led them to the family room, talking about when the others would get there before they spoke privately with David and Rebecca.

"Go," the latter said. "If you need to talk to her go ahead; but you owe me an explanation at least."

Beckett smiled and shook her head before she went with Castle into their office, waiting for him to contact Alexis on his tablet. "Is anything wrong?" she asked as soon as she saw her stepdaughter.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you after… after what happened earlier," Alexis started to say before hesitating. "I'm so sorry, I almost yelled at her after she left the house for what she said."

"Thank you," Beckett said, knowing that it had to be hard for her to do that to her own mother.

"Has anyone shown up?" Alexis asked them.

"Just the Fosters but that means the Davises aren't too far behind," Castle answered. "We don't really think your mom will come though, not after that."

"What if she does?" Alexis asked.

"Let her in," Beckett said. When the two looked at her in surprise she said, "I'm sure she wants to show she doesn't care about what happened and I doubt if she's here to get your father's attention it would work."  
"It wouldn't," Castle said.

"Plus, I'm not the kind of person to throw someone out after inviting them," Beckett said with a sigh. "And I made her waste her money on those cookies."

"The cookies don't really matter Kate," Alexis told her. But she knew she would have said the same if she was in the same position. "I just hope she doesn't go to the house," she told them. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," Beckett said with her husband before looking at him.

"Look if she does show up I'll talk to her and tell her that the decision is up to her; you're a better woman than she is and you're not throwing her out though you have every reason to do so," Castle said. "But if she does decide to stay then I'll tell her to stay away from our girls and you."

"Okay," Beckett said, as she didn't have anything to add and agreed with his idea.

"Let's just- There're the Davises," Castle said when the chime for the gate sounded. "Their car?"

"It's cold Rick," Beckett replied with a smile as they left the room hurriedly to let their friends in which they soon did.

After a while everyone was gathered in the family room, talking and having some drinks before Martha left to get some wine for herself before Jim came to get some juice for himself. She heard the chime and sighed, going to get the door opened for who she knew it was already saying to Beckett's father, "I'll have to tell you what happened this past Saturday before I open the door," before she related to him Meredith's visit.

Beckett was talking to Rebecca and Lily about writing with her husband earlier that day when she saw him walking to the doorway to the room. She was shocked; though she knew it had been a possibility; to see Meredith there as Martha walked into the room with her father and realized her mother in law had let the woman in since she'd had no idea what had happened earlier.

"What is it?" Lily asked her friend as they watched Castle lead the woman out.

Turning to her friends Beckett wasn't startled when David, Brad, Martha and her father came over to her and she looked over at the kids to make sure they were occupied before she told them what had happened.

"R-" Meredith started to say as Castle closed the door to what she guessed was his office.

"You are lucky Kate isn't a petty woman," Castle said angrily. "I was tempted to lock you out but she thinks since we issued the invitation; and because you're Alexis' mother; we shouldn't throw you out which you deserve," he said, adding the bit about his daughter as he knew his wife was thinking that though she hadn't said. "And I left this up to my wife and she says it's your decision."

"Then I'll stay," Meredith said firmly.

"Okay but you should know that I want you to stay away from Kate and you will stay away from our daughters. _Our_ daughters because Julia is ours," Castle told her. "And leave me alone. Whatever casual thing we had before it's over. I love Kate and like she told you earlier, she's the love of my life."

"You heard…" Meredith began to say.

"I did and again, you're lucky I'm not throwing you out," Castle told her before he went to the door and opened it.

"I'll leave after dessert," Meredith said as she was walking over to him.

"By the way, the chief of police is here; our friend," Castle said after she passed him. He felt some slight satisfaction that she paused for a moment before continuing and he walked after her to the family room where he saw the others were walking away from his wife. " _She's staying_ ," he told her. " _She'll leave after dessert_."

" _I knew_ ," Beckett said easily. She looked over at her husband's ex who was introducing herself and said, " _I told_ Brad _to watch for her bothering anyone_."

" _I don't think she will_ ," Castle said honestly. " _I still don't know why she's even here_."

" _Well she is and we should get_ … the food," Beckett said when the chime rang before the dogs ran to the door. She and Castle walked to the door and got the food inside before everyone gathered to get plates ready before they ate in the dining room since there were so many of them.


	31. Your Heart So Close To Mine (Part 2)

" _I'm surprised at her_ ," Castle couldn't help saying to his wife after the meal as he was setting the last glass into the dishwasher.

"Rebecca's _probably pitying her_ ," Beckett said since her friend had been talking to Meredith with David through dinner.

" _She won't like that_ ," Castle commented. "Meredith, _I mean. Okay, we're ready for_ …"

" _Not dessert yet, we should just let the kids play before we get that set out_ ," Beckett said.

With a nod Castle took his wife's hand and they walked together to the family room where everyone was gathered and sat to watch Julia, Mari, Eliza and Eve play Twister together.

"Blue right foot," Jacob called out as he was holding the spinner.

"You're not playing?" Castle asked him.

"There's too many," the boy replied. "We're going to play another game after this; my choice."

"Who picked this one?" Beckett asked. When everyone pointed to Eve she smiled and said, "Interesting choice."  
"We don't have it, hurry Jake!" the girl called to her brother.

After calling the next move for everyone to make the four girls fell when Eliza's left hand gave out, all of them crying out before they laughed together.

"Sorry," Eliza giggled when they parted finally. "I can't stay up."

"You still did a good job," Beckett said, having rushed over with Rebecca as their daughters had ended up on the bottom of the pile the four had been in somewhat. She brought Eliza over to the couch and said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, can I go back and play?" the little girl asked as her mother was hugging her.

"Yes, I just wanted to make sure," Beckett said, kissing her temple gently before letting her go. She felt her husband squeeze her hand and smiled before Lily was touching her other arm to get her attention. She spoke to her friend for a while before she glanced over at Castle who was helping the kids setting up the game Life with David. A smile played across her lips before she murmured to Lily and Rebecca who'd come to sit next to her, "Tell Rick if he asks I'm going out for some fresh air."

"Sure, it is kind of crowded," Rebecca murmured, widening her eyes.

Beckett smiled slightly as she knew the woman was referring to Meredith but she didn't say anything. Instead she stepped out after putting on her coat, going down to the two chairs in the backyard before she waited, knowing it wouldn't before long before he realized they'd be alone for some time.

As the kids were calling for him and David to help them Castle moved over to the cabinet where they were standing. He glanced over at his wife when he saw she wasn't on the couch. "Okay with helping them?" he asked David.

"I can join in," Jim said, coming over.

"Is that okay?" Castle asked Eliza. When the little girl nodded he kissed her cheek and playfully tugged some of Julia's hair before she smiled at him. He got up from the floor and went to the couch before Rebecca told him Beckett was outside. A little startled he went over to the foyer to grab a coat before he stepped outside, seeing his wife in her red coat by the chairs.

Feeling arms wrapping around her waist Beckett said, "I needed some fresh air."

"I know, Rebecca told me and it is kind of crowded in there," Castle said, willing himself not to think of how his ex didn't help the situation. Instead he focused on his wife and said, "We can't really stay for that long."

"Not just because of the cold," Beckett replied with a smile. "They're going to come looking for us and I don't want them to come out here." She kept smiling as her husband laughed slightly and she pressed back against him before they were both quiet, watching what they could see of the waves breaking in front of them. After a bit she took a deep breath and said, "My doctor called after you left to get Eliza."

"Oh?" Castle asked, becoming slightly concerned though he could tell from her tone of voice that he didn't need to be.

"My physical turned out good," Beckett told him.

"Definitely a good thing; sorry about the repetition," Castle said quickly before he kissed at her exposed neck since her hair was in a braid draped over her other shoulder.

"There was more," Beckett said when he raised his head again. Before he could say anything, she was taking his hand and placing it onto her abdomen. "I'm pregnant Rick," she told him as she felt him tense behind her while she squeezed his hand.

Castle immediately made her turn around saying, "You…" When he saw her face, he laughed slightly and then embraced her saying, "You are."

"I am," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at his very obvious shock. "It was the blood test that clued them in; again." He pulled away from her and she was going to speak again when his lips crushed hers. She could feel his joy in that and she responded as hungrily as she could to him until they were tearing themselves away from each other. Again, she tried to speak when he gave a short laugh before he picked her up and turned her around once. "Oh! You've been watching Patrick doing that to me too many times," she told him laughingly.

"Sorry, just… it all came over me right now," Castle said. "Which is why I only did that once. So… are you okay? Any symptoms… wait; you were bleeding back in-"

"I asked her about that and she reminded me it happened when I was pregnant with Eliza too," Beckett reminded him.

"I completely forgot about that," Castle said in surprise.

"So did I," Beckett said with a smile. "But she said that should stop very soon."

"That means you were pregnant in September?" Castle said slowly.

"Already, yes," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when her husband was just watching her and she said, "From what I told the doctor and the blood test she's guessing for right now we managed to conceive around the end of July and the beginning of August."

"The… the ball," Castle said as that had been the only night they'd been intimate. Recalling what they'd done after the ball he breathed out heavily and then said, "That one night before the two week break we had."

"I think so," Beckett said with a smile.

"Okay, so I think after the baby is born," Castle told her before kissing her gently. "After it is you and I need to be careful because we seem to be insanely fertile together."

"It would seem," Beckett said, not surprised he'd mentioned that fact.

"You're three months," Castle said, looking at her again.

"Almost three and a half, I'm sure I'll start noticing a change at the end of the month," Beckett replied before she watched her husband reach down to her stomach to rest his hand there. Covering it with both of hers she said, "I worried for nothing."

"We did," Castle replied. At her nod he then moved to wrap his arms around her before they kissed again and as deeply as they'd done before. When they parted he was about to speak when a gust of wind hit them then and he told her, "We better go back inside."

Beckett wanted to thank him for saying they both did and not just her but instead she told him, "The doctor thinks I'm due around the first of May." Her husband looked at her and as they went up the steps she said, "I told her we were together just the night of the first of August around the time she set it at."

"Okay, a spring baby again," Castle said, knowing he was smiling ridiculously widely. He paused at the door to the house; since the wind wasn't reaching them there; and he told her earnestly, "I adore you Kate. And I love you for doing this again."

"I'll remind you it is our baby," Beckett said. "And what I wanted as much as you." She smiled herself when he pulled her hands to him to kiss them though they were covered by her gloves. "Should we tell them?" she asked him when he straightened up.

"Do you mind telling everyone in there?" Castle asked.

"No, but we're missing someone," Beckett said. "Alexis."

"Come on," Castle told her, pulling her inside and wondering what his daughter's reaction would be to another sibling. He knew they'd find out once they got to the family room which they did hand in hand, their fingers entwined. It was a little bit of a shock to see his ex in the room talking to Lily; he'd forgotten her in his wife's announcement; but when he looked at his wife she shook her head at his unasked question if they should wait. Knowing that he cleared his throat and said, "Got a second?" When everyone was looking at him he hurried to the TV to get it ready as he'd texted Alexis while waiting for Beckett to take off her coat.

"Mommy what is it?" Julia asked as she stood with the others around the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Okay," Castle said, going back to his wife once Alexis was on the screen. "We have an announcement to make," he said, looking at Beckett.

With a slight smile on her face Beckett said, looking at their family and guests, "We're going to have a baby."

For a second an explosion of sound filled the room before the girls' squeals of joy were the loudest. They'd run to their mother and were hugging her tightly before Julia asked, "Is it true?"

"It is," Beckett replied, embracing them both. "You'll have a brother or sister next year."

"Congratulations," Lily said, the first to hurry to her and hug her friend tightly. "How far?"

"I'll be three and a half months on Friday," Beckett said with a smile before she needed to hug Rebecca. She embraced David and Brad, who added their congratulations, before Mari gave her a hug followed by Eve before Jacob said the same as he stood near her. "Thank you," she told them before looking at her mother in law and father who'd come to stand near them.

"I'm so pleased and I'd wondered if I was imagining things," Martha said, embracing her daughter in law. "And so you know I'm ecstatic to have another grandchild."

"I'm glad to hear that," Beckett said, looking at her husband as David and Brad were shaking his hand after their wives had given him a hug. She recalled Alexis and walked over to the TV saying, "I hope-"

"I wish I was there with you," the young woman interrupted. "I can't wait to have another little sibling. When are you due?"

"Around the first of May," Beckett said with a smile as she could tell her stepdaughter was very happy at the news.

"I'll have to try and make it over there to see the baby," Alexis replied. "I hate-"

"No, it's late for you," Beckett said.

"She's right, you need to rest," Castle said.

"Dad, I'm not a baby," Alexis said though she was smiling as she spoke. "But yeah, I could use the sleep. Can I tell Louis?"

"Go ahead, we'll be texting and e-mailing his family and our friends," Castle said. After his daughter had said goodbye to them and the TV was off again he turned to his wife who was hugging her father tightly.

"This is what you wanted?" Jim whispered to her.

"We've wanted," Beckett said in response.

As the two parted Castle noticed Meredith leaving the room then and he squeezed his wife's arm before saying, "We'll bring something to have a toast; the kids too." When they stepped out onto the hall he saw the front door closing and they walked to the entry where he opened the door so they could watch his ex leaving.

"Are you going to say anything?" Beckett murmured softly so the woman wouldn't hear them.

"There's nothing left to say," Castle said simply, waiting for his ex to leave out of the door in the wall. Turning to go back inside he closed the front door again and held his wife to him whispering into her ear, " _I love you_ Kate, _so much_ …"

" _I love you Rick, as much as you do me_ ," Beckett told him with a smile before they kissed. "Now come on," she told him, moving to take his hand. "Let's have that toast."

Walking over to the kitchen Castle and Beckett grabbed some sparkling apple cider, though while Castle was pouring out the drinks Beckett was sending out an e-mail en masse to their friends and to her cousin to let them know the news. They joined everyone in the family room yet again and Martha led the toast to the expecting couple.

"To the new life that will join us," Castle's mother said, smiling at her son and daughter in law. "And to the family that will be welcoming it next year. Congratulations Richard, Kate. We wish you joy."

Beckett embraced her mother in law after they had all had a sip of their drinks and she was ushered to the couch by Rebecca and Lily. She laughed since she knew it wasn't because she was pregnant but because they wanted to talk to her and they did as the kids were talking to Julia and Eliza about their new sibling and how they felt about it.

"Where is Meredith?" Martha was asking her son, standing with him and Jim.

"She left," Castle replied. "Right before we went to get the drinks."

"I can imagine it would be a shock for her," Beckett's father commented. "She told me," he explained to Castle, nodding the Martha. "If she was here in the hope that you and Katie were growing apart… or something like that."

"It sounds like that," Castle nodded, looking over at his wife. He then excused himself and went to Brad and David who were standing by the kids, watching them.

"You were already pregnant when you were telling us about it," David said to his friend with a grin.

"Hey, we're both older we weren't sure it was going to happen," Castle said, shrugging slightly. He then smiled and said, "I'm glad it did."

"Quickly too," Brad joked.

"Yes, yes it did," Castle said simply, shaking his head before he heard his wife beginning to laugh.

"I forgot about that," Beckett said to what Rebecca had told her and Lily. "Believe me I wasn't aiming to be pregnant both times we got married."

"Interesting coincidence," Lily said. "And this has been fun but… again."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile as the alert that she'd gotten a reply to her e-mail went off yet again, knowing it was either her family or friends. "But what?"

"We need to get going," Rebecca said. "I saw the time too."

"We have to get Eliza to bed very soon ourselves," Beckett said before they all stood up.

With the kids groaning they said goodnight to each other before they made their way to the foyer. There Castle and Beckett were given congratulations on their news again before they all watched the two families leaving, walking and driving from the house.

"What a night," Martha said with a sigh after the gate and door were closed as well as the front door. "I think everyone's getting in contact with you."

"They are," Beckett said with a smile, getting her phone. "Almost," she said, seeing who had sent her e-mails. "Javi was first telling us congrats and to name the baby after him again. Ryan and Jenny say the same thing; not the naming though. Lanie's demanding I talk to her soon and Skye and Mary say the same thing. Oh, May too. Rudy and Madeline say the same and that they told Isabelle she'll have another friend in the Hamptons soon. And… oh."

"What?" Julia asked as Castle led them back to the family room.

"We have an e-mail from Paul," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "I included him in the list, by accident."

"He didn't curse us out, did he?" Castle asked.

"No," Beckett said, shaking her head. "He and Nancy send their congratulations too."

"Did he really send you an e-mail?" Julia breathed in excitement as she knew for sure that the singer was the Paul they were talking about.

Showing it to her daughter Beckett saw Darnley was calling her and she said, "I knew it."

"Do you want to talk with him alone?" Castle asked.

"No but we need to get Eliza to bed after this," Beckett said.

"Of course," Castle said as he was beginning to get the TV ready.

"Kate," Darnley said the second he saw his friend. "Is it true?"

"It is," Beckett said as she saw how hopeful he looked.

"I'm so happy to hear that," Darnley told her earnestly. "Hey girls," he then said when he saw them next to his friend. "Ready to be big sisters?"

"Yeah!" both girls said eagerly.

"I'm glad to hear that too. How far along are you?" Darnley said before directing his question to Beckett.

"Three and a half almost and I'm due around the beginning of May," she replied.

"I'll definitely try to come and see the baby," Darnley told her.

"You'll see us at Christmas," Julia pointed out.

"And that means I'll get to see your mom while she's carrying the baby," Darnley said with a nod. "How're you doing Rick?"

"Extremely happy but I'm sure you could tell that," Castle said.

"I could, okay I know it's a school night but we'll talk more when we both have a chance Kate," Darnley said quickly. "Take care everyone and you most of all," he ended by looking at his friend.

"We will," Beckett assured him before they said goodbye to him. As soon as she'd hung up she saw that Brennan had e-mailed her and she told the others, "Brennan and Clara send their congratulations and now they really can't wait to see us at Christmas."

"They won't talk to us?" Eliza asked.

"Sweetie they're going to go to bed now, it's late," Beckett said as she took the little girl's hand, leading the way to the stairs. "And speaking of that…"

With Eliza's mock groan and everyone else laughing the family headed upstairs before they split up to change for bed though Castle and Beckett stayed with their daughters. Castle went to help Eliza change into her pajamas while Beckett merely sat on the girl's bed and waited for her to change on her own. They were talking as she did so, mainly the next day at school before Julia couldn't hold back her interest and she began to ask her mother about the baby.

"Are you gonna find out what the baby is this time?" Julia said.

"Yes," Beckett replied as she and her husband had already discussed that during the summer.

"Are you gonna keep working on cases?" Julia asked.

"While you were saying goodbye to your friends your daddy and I talked to Brad and I'll probably stop working once I get to about eight months or so," Beckett replied. "Unless I don't feel I can work sooner than that."

"Will you be okay?" Julia asked softly.

"What do you mean?" Beckett said, slightly frowning.

"Isn't it hard to carry a baby?" Julia asked.

"A little but I've done it before," Beckett replied. "You don't remember?"

"I do a little bit," Julia replied with a nod. She then became thoughtful and said, "But I guess you'll be okay." She then smiled and said, "Can we help take care of the baby?"

"I think so," Beckett replied, smiling herself. "That's what I had in mind," she added as she began to brush Julia's hair. "And since you asked last time I won't be forgetting you or your sister."

"I know," Julia replied with a smile. "That's why I didn't ask." When her mother stopped she hurriedly put away her brush before she went back to her mother and told her, "Eliza's been asking if you and Daddy would have another baby; she wants a little sister."

"Really?" Beckett said in surprise as she stood.

"Yeah, Grandpapa and Gram knew too 'cause she asked them too," Julia said.

"Why didn't you say anything to us?" Beckett asked.

"Gram said we shouldn't 'cause you probably weren't going to have another baby," Julia said.

"I still had to think about it," Beckett said with a smile. "Come on, we need to get your sister to bed."

"Can I write in my diary?" Julia asked quickly as they left the room.

"Yes," Beckett said before they walked into Eliza's room where her father was hugging the little girl goodnight.

"Love you too Grandpapa," Eliza was saying to Jim after he'd told her the same. She smiled at her mother and sister before she said, "Are you kay Mommy?"

"Yes," Beckett replied. "And you don't need to keep asking me; I'll be alright."

"She's right, we tried to ask her the same when she was carrying you and she got a little annoyed," Castle said, watching the girls hug each other.

"She also asked if you two were going to see what the baby was," Martha commented.

"We are, I told Julia the same thing," Beckett said with a smile. "And we'll see… next month actually," she said as she looked at her husband.

"That's right," Castle said. "Took a little longer to find out this time." He glanced at the girls and said, "That's not a bad thing, just different."

"Come on, into bed sweetie," Beckett told Eliza. "You said goodnight to your gram, right?"

"Yeah," Eliza said before she turned to her father as he was coming over to her. "Love you Daddy; I'm happy."

"Me too," Castle said with a slight laugh. "And I love you too," he then told her, sharing a kiss with her. When he moved out of the way of his wife he said, "She said she'd wanted a little sister for a while."

"Julia told me," Beckett replied, squeezing his hand before she sat next to their youngest. "And you might get a little brother Eliza."

"I know, Grandpapa and Gram said," the little girl replied.

"Good," Beckett said with a smile before she embraced her tightly. "I love you so much Eliza, sweet dreams."

"I love you Mommy and you too," Eliza told her seriously, finishing by looking down at her mother stomach and speaking a little louder.

After they had shared a kiss; once she'd stopped laughing with the others at Eliza's goodnight to the baby; Beckett stood and tucked her in before pressing a kiss to the little girl's forehead. She walked with the others out into the hall and said to her father and mother in law, "We're taking her over to her room."

"We just said goodnight to her," Martha said. "So we'll say the same to you both." She embraced her daughter in law tightly and said, "I'll say it once more, I'm so very happy for you both. And I'll promise now to be here when the baby is born."

"Thank you, Martha," Beckett said with a smile. She turned to her father and hugged him saying, "Even with three kids we're still standing with our offer for you to live here when you retire."

"Your husband said the same thing," Jim replied. When they parted he said, "But until then I'll say the same as Martha; I want to be here when the baby is born."

"And you'll tell us; if we aren't here; what you're expecting right?" Martha asked.

"Of course," Castle said.

"Then goodnight," Martha told them.

"Night," Jim added.

As the two went to their rooms Castle and Beckett took Julia inside of hers where they sat on the side of her bed together.

"How long can I take?" Julia asked them as she pulled her diary out at her desk.

"As long as you want," Castle said as he had the feeling she was going to need to write for a while.

Nodding Julia turned her attention to the book and with her pen full of ink she began to write, trying not to go too fast and blot the pages with ink.

 _November 13, 2019_

 _I have other stuff to write about but I have to say the_ _best_ _news first-_ _MY MOMMY'S GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY!_

Hearing Julia drawing about three lines Beckett smiled and she said, "You're starting out with that first?"

"It's important news," Julia said firmly before smiling at her. "Is it okay I wrote that in all capital letters and underlined it?" she asked, looking at her father as well.

"Yeah that's fine," Castle said since his wife was looking at him to reply. "Three times too we heard."

"I said it was important," Julia replied before she laughed with her parents slightly. Going back to the diary she wrote once more, starting another paragraph.

 _Sorry but I'm so happy because I didn't think we were gonna have another baby in the house after Lizzy was born. But Mommy and Daddy are so much in love I thought maybe we'd have another sister or brother. It's not going to come until the beginning of May though which is_ _so_ _long from now. Oh! I should get the baby a Christmas gift like I did with Lizzy. But I have to think of something first._

 _Dance class was okay, I was feeling weird still after what happened at lunch… or what happened to Mommy at lunch. I forgot to ask her about it because the party and then the baby made me forget but I'll ask her after I'm finished here. But more important was the party which was kinda weird too. I mean it was fun getting to play with all my friends, or my 'cousins' Daddy likes to say though we're not really. Anyway Alexis' mom was there and I thought she wouldn't want to come. Daddy took her away for a little and I got a little worried but she wasn't very happy when she came back so I think he… yelled at her?_

Julia paused there and glanced back at her mother before she sucked in a breath of air and then went quickly back to her diary.

 _I think I know what happened sorta, Alexis' mother probably came to see Mommy- I know Daddy picked up Eliza and got the yummy cupcakes we had for dessert- and they probably fought. And it was bad 'cause I knew Mommy was very angry. Should I ask her if I'm right? I have to tell her 'cause I have to tell her when I know that stuff. I just hope Alexis' mother won't come back… I don't think she will 'cause when Mommy and Daddy said she was gonna have a baby Alexis' mother looked really surprised and then just left. I hope I'm right._

 _But the party was fun and I hope we have another next month at Christmas. Now I gotta go, need to talk to Mommy and Daddy before I have to go to bed. Oh, and Lizzy and 'lexis are happy we're gonna have a baby too._

"All done?" Beckett asked as she heard the drawer closing.

"Yeah," Julia said, hurrying to her bed after she had put everything away. She then told her mother what she had sensed during lunch; and her suspicions; and when she finished asked, "Did that happen?"

"Yes," Beckett replied with a sigh, not surprised she'd sensed something had happened.

"Then why didn't you tell her not to come to the party?" Julia asked.

"Because we assumed she wouldn't come," Castle said. "And she is Alexis' mother. But what she did was inexcusable and she won't be back now."

"Why did she come here? She didn't talk to us and didn't talk much to anyone else either," Julia said with a frown on her face.

"She likely wanted to see if your daddy and I wanted to stay married," Beckett said.

"If you were still in love?" Julia asked. When her father nodded she said, "That's why she left after you said you were gonna have a baby."

"Most likely; but don't worry about her anymore okay?" Castle told her.

"He's right, what you should be doing now is thinking of what to do until you need to go to bed," Beckett said, smiling at the girl.

"Okay," Julia said, looking around the room. "Oh, how about this game?" she said as she went over to her desk and her triangle peg solitaire game that she had bought earlier that year with her own money.

"So we'll just watch you?" Castle asked with a smile.

"Yeah it won't take me that long," Julia said since she'd only been able to get one peg left after buying the game once.

"Which is why she chose it," Beckett commented as Julia climbed up to sit on the middle of the bed.

"Mommy?" the girl said after she'd begun moving the first peg.

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked.

"Should you be sitting like that?" Julia asked her.

With a smile Beckett said, "I've sat like this while pregnant before," as she was cross legged. "Don't worry about me."

"What's your real question?" Castle said. When Julia looked up at him he said, "I was able to guess."

"Well… are you gonna think of any names yet?" the girl finally asked a little shyly as she stopped playing her game since she had no more moves.

"It's still early," Castle said first.

"And I think we should wait until we know what we're going to have," Beckett added as she took the game from their oldest. "But we're not going to say until it's born what the baby's name is."

"That's not fair," Julia said, playfully pouting.

"You'll find out the name," Castle said. "But first the baby needs to do a lot of growing; a lot."

"Good job," Julia said then, seeing her mother had gotten two pegs left. "Can you do better?" she asked her father with a smile.

"I'm going to give it a shot," Castle said with a smile. He then began to move around the pegs once he had the game in front of him, but he was only able to get down to two pegs as well. "Well… I guess this means we're even."

"I think it does, and we're also out of time," Beckett said.

"Man, that's not fair," Julia said, pretending to sound angry. "Lizzy got to stay up and not me."

Laughing a little as she and Castle got off the bed Beckett said, "And she went right to sleep as soon as I tucked her in."

"You've got school still so you need to sleep," Castle told the girl before he hugged her. "And Eliza might have to take a nap tomorrow."

"We'll see," Beckett said quickly.

Glancing at her Castle turned his attention back to their daughter and he said, "I love you Julia, sweet dreams."

"I love you Daddy," Julia replied. "Are you happy?"

"Very," Castle said with a nod.

"Good," Julia said before she shared a kiss with him. As her parents switched places she then recalled something and asked, "What room is the baby gonna have?"

"The one next to Eliza's," Castle said. "But remember your sister stayed with us in our room for about a month."

"Oh," Julia said. "If I hear the baby crying then can I get it?"

"Let's wait until the baby's here to worry about that," Beckett said, hugging her tightly. She pressed a kiss to her forehead before saying, "I am glad you and your sister are so happy."

"I wanted another brother or sister too," Julia admitted. She then embraced her mother again and told her, "I love you Mommy."

"I love you too sweetie, see you in the morning," Beckett replied.

"Yeah," Julia said before she lay down and watched her mother tucking her in. She watched her parents leave after turning off the light and smiled before she called Macca up to lay next to her before wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes to sleep.

Castle closed the door behind him once he and Beckett were in their room. He locked it slowly, maintaining eye contact with her as he did so. "Just in case you were tired," he said.

"I have been," Beckett replied with a smile as she then made her way to their bed. "I thought it was what we were getting up to at night but I guess it's the baby too."

Castle had been following his wife as she'd spoken and the second she turned to him he was wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. He didn't kiss her had first, instead he just held her before he tilted his head down to her, taking her lips with his own. They kissed slowly at first before she was the one to deepen it and he followed her eagerly until they had kissed multiple times. "What do you want love?" he asked her gently, running his hands over her back gently.

With a smile Beckett brushed her lips against his until she slowly pulled away and said, "Let's get rid of our clothes first."

Nodding rapidly in agreement Castle helped her strip down until she was naked before he let her help him do the same to himself. After they were both nude bared to each other he helped her onto the bed, watching her laying down before she reached for him. They were kissing again and he groaned in pleasure as she was writhing a little underneath him, their skin sliding against each other. "Can I-" he started to say.

"Not yet," Beckett replied, suddenly deciding she wanted something different at that moment. She pushed on his shoulders before he quickly got up and as soon as they were both sitting up she leaned over, kissing him as hard as she could. When they'd parted she caressed his cheek with her hand and murmured lovingly to him, "What would you like to do right now?"

"Shouldn't it be…" Castle started to say in protest before he trailed off at the look in her eyes. "Okay," he breathed, studying her then and deciding what he wanted; and needed to do. He kissed her that time before very gently and carefully laying her back until she was still. " _You're amazing my goddess_ ," he said huskily to her as the feel of her body against him was affecting him greatly.

Biting at her lower lip for a moment as her husband was caressing her breasts with one hand Beckett then said, " _You're the same, please, I need to feel you_."

Breathing out hard at the tone of her voice Castle kissed her again but didn't linger for very long before he was slowly dragging his lips to her neck. Kissing around it he could feel how her pulse was racing and it set off his own. He was also heavily aroused and he couldn't stop kissing her until he reminded himself his wife would grow impatient. As soon as he could make himself stop he went down to her breasts watching her as he began to work over them reverently.

Crying out heavily as her husband began by kissing her mounds Beckett reached up to him and held onto him so he wouldn't move just yet. Luckily she could soon feel that wasn't his plan as he went from kissing her to suckling at her right nipple. She arched her hips a little, suddenly realizing the throbbing of her arousal was starting to become too much. But her husband was moving down her abdomen and she moaned his name lovingly before he managed to reach her navel. "Oh! Rick… don't… don't stop there," she gasped as he began to nip around it.

"I wasn't planning on it," Castle said huskily. He felt a kind of perverse satisfaction at the way his wife's eyes widened and he moved down even further until he was at the apex of her legs. He then recalled the baby but told himself to return to it later before he made her put her legs over his shoulders. When she was set he wrapped his arms around her thighs and using his left hand he parted her folds to expose her clit. Breathing out on it he felt her trembling and then lowered his head to begin stimulating it.

Grabbing onto the bed on either side of her as the first pass of his tongue was like a jolt Beckett tried not to move too much to dislodge her husband from what he was doing. She moved a little up towards the headboard when he was rolling his tongue against her, reaching for the headboard. She could feel him almost instantly bringing her back down to him where she felt him starting to slip and slide his tongue to her entrance. "Oh god… Rick don't stop you feel so… good," she said, gasping the last word.

Castle was sure he was gasping himself too; tasting the extent of his wife's arousal he was almost burying his face into her sex. He could feel the heat coming off her and all of that nearly made him start to rub against the bed so he could get some gratification for himself. Finally, he pulled away fully and said, "Are you close?"

"Yes! Why did you stop?" Beckett said a little angrily. She didn't receive a response, instead her husband was kissing her hard on the lips and she responded to him as she knew why he was doing that. But she wasn't going to allow him to delay her end for long and as soon as he pulled away she was turning him so he lay on his back. She had half expected him to protest but when he was silent, grabbing for her hips, she was overjoyed though she was focusing more on moving so she was above his head. With his help she lowered her body to him and almost instantly he was lapping at her folds. She was relieved that the top of the headboard was extended by the table behind it, needing the extra space to lean on as she was crying out in pleasure at the way his tongue soon rolled right into her.

Castle wasn't sure what pushed him to thrust his tongue within her, guessing his subconscious was trying to show him how badly he wanted to make love to her. But he was distracted at the realization his wife was moving a little haphazardly on him. He moved away and made her move too, laying her down before he was right back where he'd been seconds before, pleasuring her and not stopping.

Beckett knew what her husband was doing and she didn't try to stop him, poised too close to the edge to do so. She had no idea how much longer he was working over her before she broke. She'd been meaning to tell him she was close but hadn't had the chance before she fell over the edge. She cried out his name repeatedly, the ecstasy that was roaring through her taking everything else over. She thought she might have been lost in her pleasure for hours but it was only minutes before she was limp on the bed, trembling a little as her husband kissed his way up to her lips.

"Okay my love?" Castle asked, holding her tightly to him.

"Yes," Beckett breathed out. She opened her eyes when she felt she could and looked at him, reaching up to brush her fingertips along his jaw. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"You're we- Kate," Castle began to say before he cut himself off with a groan of her name as she was moving her hand in a rush down his body to grasp his erection. "You don't-"

"I want to," Beckett said firmly enough so he wouldn't stop her. When he nodded she smiled and moved her hand up and down on him, not wanting to start until he knew she was serious. She watched him before she realized he wasn't going to be able to take it for as long as she had and she made him move to lie on his back. As soon as he was set she took him within her mouth, bobbing it around him as slowly as she could at first before she began to speed up.

Castle was torn between wanting to grab onto his wife's head or the bed as he was completely overwhelmed by the way she was moving along him as fast as she was by then. He was groaning, letting his pleasure become vocal because he needed to try and handle it and also wanted Becket to know how he was feeling. He hissed slightly as she began to touch him and shortly after she'd begun that he was climaxing, only able to shout for a moment to warn her. He was trying his hardest not to move as she'd done, knowing if he did he'd hurt her. He didn't know why he had any self-control but he was able to stop himself and he instead pressed down into the bed while his shoulders rose with what he felt. The second he had stopped he reached for her and laid her on her back again, kissing her deeply.

Since her arousal had risen immediately pleasuring him Beckett was a little hypersensitive as her husband's hands were searching around her body. She cried out heavily in joy when he nipped at her neck and then went to her breasts. Though she wanted to start already; knowing her husband was nowhere near finished for the night; she knew he needed a little time before he began again. But as he seemed to caress her nipples with his tongue before he took them hungrily she could feel he was working himself up. When he stopped and pulled away; slightly to her shock; she ran her hand from the back of his neck to his head saying, " _I love you_ ," intently.

" _I love you too_ Kate," Castle replied in the same tone before they were kissing eagerly. He moved slightly, pressing his hips down onto hers before he slowly moved away and murmured in Irish again, " _Help me love_." He grunted at first when she grasped his erection with him but managed to focus on getting him inside of her. The first few centimeters he slid into her he was gasping for air before he continued until finally he was fully within her. "Kate…" he said on a sigh when their hips touched.

"Make love to me Rick," Beckett said, feeling from his motions what he wanted to do to her. She took his kiss and when he pulled away slightly she tried to brace herself for it before she squeezed her eyes shut as he slipped back fully in her. That movement didn't stop and she cried out, feeling him so deliberately was making her react already and she arched her back so she was against his chest as her breasts were suddenly aching. She would have thought it was the pregnancy but knew from experience it was just a way she felt when she and her husband were making love in any way.

Castle was startled when his wife pushed herself up on her arms but he recovered immediately, leaning down to her to take her lips in a passionate kiss. He was still moving slowly so he had to relish the differences they were experiencing. When they very slowly parted he didn't let her get far, letting his tongue roll out onto her lips to coax her own out. They rolled together for a moment before going inside her mouth and they kissed once more. He shuddered, losing his rhythm for a moment, as he couldn't resist it since she was very tight and drawing him within her deeply. He moved back before he then went to her neck, startled when he realized it was still exposed as her hair was up in a braid. He was tempted to stop them to take it out but he knew already she wasn't going to let him do that. So instead he moved down a little harder against her before she was pressing her heels roughly into his back. "What?" he said in surprise.

"Fuck me," Beckett said.

"But-" Castle began to say. He cut himself off as her expression was pleading and he couldn't deny her what she wanted. He nodded and was startled as she pushed on his shoulders so he'd leave her; which he did incredibly reluctantly.

Getting off the bed Beckett reached out for her husband and pulled him around it until they got to the table. She was about to lean against it when he was grabbing her and moving her away from it. "What?" she then asked.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Castle said hesitantly.

"We did this not too long ago Rick," Beckett said simply though she wasn't surprised he was hesitant. "And remember the baby's very well protected right now."

Still slightly unsure, though he knew his wife was right, Castle nodded and moved to follow her as she leaned against the table. He pressed against her back before he felt her parting her legs and he guided himself into her as he knew without asking that she was ready for him. While she cried out he groaned heavily in pleasure until they were coupled fully once more. He took only a moment before he thrust frantically immediately, swearing heavily as she was crying out again. He could feel he was getting deep within her as before and he tried to angle his hips down as they slapped against her skin loudly. "Kate," he breathed as he reached up to her breasts. "We're going to stop before you come, I'm going to take you on the bed and have you like I wanted to make you come. Promise me you'll move when I tell you to."

Beckett wanted to say no but her husband was suddenly thrusting against her deeper and slower, making her cry out his name. "Alright, I will!" she said, knowing whatever he had in mind she was going to still climax. She felt him at her neck and she reached back to him, holding onto him as he went back to his rapid pace and they were kissing hungrily. The friction between them; built up again; was intense for her and she was sure she wasn't going to be able to resist him when he made her stop as she wanted to continue as fast as possible. After they had parted she held onto the very edge of the table with both hands and used that to move against him, rocking her hips up and down harder than before. She cried out as he swore and in an instant, he was stopping making her protest, "No, please not yet I'm so close."

"That's the reason why," Castle replied though he was feeling the absence of her as well, the throbbing of her sex around his length not enough. He withdrew from her and then walked hurriedly with her over to the bed where he made her lay down. As soon as he was too he kissed her hard, sinking his tongue within her mouth before they began to duel. They did that for a while before he had to stop and then carefully slipped inside of her once more. Sighing he whispered, "Don't hold back love."

"I won't," Beckett replied. She gasped in surprise when her husband thrust slowly and she told him, "You could still f-fuck me."

"I want to make love to you," Castle almost hissed in his pleasure at that moment. "And I'll fuck you however many times you want me to after this. For now…"

When he raised her hips with both his hands Beckett suddenly found that her clit was striking his body and a few motions with him doing that and she completely broke. She threw her head back and almost screamed in her joy at finally reaching the edge. She fell into her orgasm joyously, almost clawing at her husband's back while her heels were beating into him. He was still making love to her but suddenly through the waves of ecstasy she was feeling she then realized he was thrusting hard against her. Feeling his orgasm, she nearly did so for a second time herself and held tighter to him until things began to calm down within her and she was panting for air as she was still with him thrusting wildly.

With a heavy curse Castle finally stopped moving and he repeated his apology until he felt his wife pressing on caressing his hair. "I-" he started to say when he could raise his head.

"Do not apologize; you did make love to me but you fucked me too," Beckett said as she looked at him seriously. "So we satisfied what we both wanted."

"True," Castle replied before he carefully pulled away. He smiled at her as he remained above her before he moved down to her abdomen and lovingly ran his hand over it. "I love you already little one," he told the baby, kissing her stomach. "And I'm sorry if we were a little rough tonight. You'll need to get used to it just to give you a little warning."

"It will, Eliza did when I was carrying her," Beckett told him, watching him with a smile and gently stroking his hair again. "And we were very busy then."

"Do you think it'll be the same this time?" Castle asked, looking up at his wife but not moving from where he was still stroking at her abdomen gently.

"Most likely," Beckett replied. She watched her husband lay next to her, his hand resting on her stomach as soon as he had settled. She covered it and murmured, "I can't believe I'm pregnant again."

"I know," Castle agreed. "I just hope you'll be alright during it. When is your first appointment?"

"Tomorrow," Beckett said, realizing she'd forgotten to tell him. "At eleven, so you're going to be able to pick up Eliza again."

"No I won't, I'm going with you," Castle said firmly. When his wife looked at him he said, "I am, I know she'll do an ultrasound and I want to be there for that."

"Okay," Beckett said with a smile. She leaned back and kissed him before she murmured, "I said it before but I'll say it again. I love you Rick."

A shudder passed through him inwardly at his wife's tone of voice and Castle said huskily; as his hand slipped to her mound; "I love you too Kate." He cupped it and let his index finger move, making her cry out in joy, before he said, "So much."

Beckett moved and pulled her husband onto her saying, "Then show me lover."

And with that Castle and Beckett joined together again, thrusting furiously the second they were coupled and kissing passionately as they let their ardor take over.

* * *

Panting heavily Beckett slid her hands from where they'd ended up on her husband's shoulders to be able to wrap her arms around his neck. "Will you be able to keep up with me?" she asked him teasingly, leaning close to him.

"Yes," Castle replied simply. He smiled when she looked at him questioningly and he told her, "I did before and I still can even when you're not pregnant. Just let me know when we need to be alone."

"Okay," Beckett said as she'd done the same her previous pregnancy. She then leaned down and kissed him before they slowly parted and she said, "I wish we could continue but…"

"We don't have to go to sleep yet," Castle told her though he was letting her go so she could lie down and he hurried to join her, holding her abdomen again. "I'm not going to st-" he started to say as she looked up at him.

"I don't want you to," Beckett interrupted him. She smiled as he immediately did so and she took his kiss hungrily before they slowly parted and she caressed his face as he gently rubbed over her abdomen.

They shared a kiss before Castle murmured, "You should get some rest my love."

"You too," Beckett replied with a smile. She sat up as she watched him get up to turn off the fireplace before coming back to her and she said as he came to her; laying his hand on her stomach yet again; "What's on your mind?"

Not surprised that his wife was able to guess that he'd been thinking of something Castle told her, "We have double to celebrate on Sunday."

"Are you still going to keep me glued to the bed?" Beckett asked. She took his kiss; as she'd expected it; and then looked at him expectantly once they'd finally parted.

"Make sure you pack both our books," Castle said in response before they kissed once more. He made them lay down when they parted and he held her tightly against him before he said, " _I adore you my love_."

" _I adore you_ Rick," Beckett replied with a smile. " _Always_?"

" _Always_ ," Castle said before their lips met tenderly. They parted and his hand was firmly placed on her abdomen as they pressed tightly together. "Goodnight love."

"Goodnight," Beckett replied, knowing that was more so he would remind himself to sleep.

Castle watched her, hoping she knew how happy he was at the news and that in less than six months they'd have their baby with them. But as he pressed a kiss to her forehead he had an idea she was aware and he finally fell asleep to that idea, still happy.

After she had pressed her cheek to her husband's shoulder Beckett closed her eyes, joyful herself at knowing she and Castle had managed to make their love work and conceive their child. She tried not to think of how long until the baby would be born, instead of what they had to look forward to until then. She fell asleep as she'd been smiling and her dreams were a mingling of her pleasure with her husband and their joy at the future of their family as night moved effortlessly into day while they slept pressed closely to each other into the next morning.


	32. Everywhere With My Love

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: The Lladros in this chapter are both real, if anyone wants to see them go to the official site and search for the names Our Reading Moment (Julia's) and Mommy's Little Girl (Eliza's).

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _That Is All_ by George Harrison, from his album _Living in the Material World_.

A/N #3: I had been wondering what responses I'd get for the last chapter and now I have I'll get right to my thank yous for the feedback I got! Guest (Not surprised to see your comments, I was expecting to hear something like that after I posted the last chapter),

TORONTOSUN (Nice to read that you thought the first half of the chapter was good writing for Castle and Beckett. And I'm so pleased you still like how I write about the family getting together since I enjoy writing that myself!),

MsNYC (I'm not surprised that you thought Meredith was up to something, I know a lot of readers did, lol. But I'm glad I could surprise you with the slap that Beckett gave her though I am glad you thought that Meredith deserved it! And I did laugh at your reaction to the news they're having another baby. I had thought that you would be very happy to read that but didn't expect the reaction you said you had, lol, but of course I'm really happy that you enjoyed it so much you were glad to be alone while you were fangirling. You're very welcome for the news! And I know you've been waiting to hear that but true, I didn't know how long you were waiting for that. And I'm very happy to see that you thought it was good writing as usual!) and

Mb (Nice to read that you thought it was a fantastic update! And I'm pleased that you're so happy to that Castle and Beckett are having another baby. I also thought it was nice you were happy that everyone was excited and thrilled for them. I wasn't surprised that you were glad that Meredith is gone for now, I wasn't too surprised though that you're thinking she has another plan up her sleeve for later but I think that's just how her character comes off on the show, lol. And it's nice to see you're still reading this and trying to read my earlier stories when you can, or as time permits as you said. You're very welcome for keeping their love story alive and thriving, it needed to be after the way the show ended. And yep, definitely Caskett and family always! You're welcome again!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _My Love_ by Paul McCartney, from the Paul McCartney and Wings album _Red Rose Speedway_.

Everywhere With My Love

Gasping for air Castle kissed at what he could of his wife's neck where his face was buried into and he said, "Happy Birthday love."

Beckett couldn't help laughing slightly though she was limp from her pleasure and said, "Thank you, you said that before."

"It needed to repeated," Castle said, raising his head before leaning down and brushing her swollen lips with his own. He moved away from her but only so he could lie down next to her, wrapping his arm around her. It was his wife's birthday and they were in the bedroom of the hut they had stayed in the year before in Tahiti to celebrate. He'd woken her up with a hibiscus he'd picked just before that outside and he had then initiated their bout of lovemaking. And even though they'd been nearly continuously making love since they had arrived on Friday night they'd taken to it eagerly. Shuddering as he recalled all the times they'd come together he turned his head to press his lips against her temple.

Smiling as she felt her husband's hand gently cup her abdomen Beckett said, "Are you thinking about Friday and yesterday?"

"Of course," Castle replied, not surprised she'd figured that out. "But you don't want to stay here longer? I can always-"

"I want to go back home," Beckett said, cutting him off by pressing her hand to his mouth. "Thanksgiving is coming up-"

"Still eight days away," Castle interrupted.

"And Julia's competition is too," Beckett said slowly.

Sighing Castle nodded and replied, "I'd been thinking the same too. Plus, they begged us to come back tomorrow… well Tuesday I should say."

"It's the baby," Beckett said with a smile. "They want to be around me."

"Especially now that they've seen it," Castle commented.

"Especially now," Beckett replied, recalling how three days before she'd had her first appointment. They'd gotten their first chance to check on the baby and had confirmation that they had in fact managed to conceive it after they had left her cousin's ball. At the end of the appointment an ultrasound had been performed and they'd seen the baby, still developing but far more than Eliza had been the first time they'd seen her. "It's weird how different this has been from before."

"It was the birth control you were trying to switch to," Castle said, having thought of that himself already. "If it hadn't been for that it might have taken you as long to realize you were pregnant."

"No," Beckett said. When her husband looked at her she smiled and said, "Again it was a blood test that figured it out this time around. When I was pregnant with Eliza I was another… eight or nine months from another physical. So I might not have realized it until my body started to change more noticeably."

"Then great it worked out the way it did," Castle commented.

"Yes," Beckett said with a quick laugh. She pressed closer to her husband and murmured, "But we can go home tomorrow."

"Okay," Castle said with a smile. He then turned onto his side and asked, "Can you notice anything yet?"

With a slight sigh Beckett ran her hands over her breasts before she shook her head, "Nothing here and there's nothing here really either," ending by covering his hand with her own. "It took me a while to start showing with Eliza."

"True," Castle recalled. "But you said not all pregnancies are the same."

"And they're not; I'm not experiencing fatigue as much as I did with Eliza this time around," Beckett answered before she turned onto her side to face him.

They kissed tenderly after Castle leaned towards his wife and they became involved in that for so long he thought they'd begin making love again. But after they finally stopped he knew he had to ask her, "What do you want to do now?"

"You had to push yourself, didn't you?" Beckett asked him teasingly. She outright laughed when he nodded seriously and she said, "I'd like to stay outside for a while, spend time in the water." When he groaned, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry I can't accommodate you but I would like to spend a little more outside."

"Yeah," Castle said with a sigh. "But we did have a great time yesterday."

"We did," Beckett said, getting up when he finally let her go.

"Look," Castle said to her when he was off the bed, placing his hand on her arm to stop her. "It's not that I just want to stay in bed-"

"Don't worry," Beckett said soothingly. "I know you don't it's just hard to resist more after that." She reached over to him and cupped his cheek before nuzzling her nose to his before she told him, "But we're not stopping."

"Is that what you want?" Castle asked, his lips moving against hers as he spoke.

"Yes," Beckett said simply before she walked over to the dresser to get her bikini. She dressed quickly before she looked at her stomach, no real change in it yet as she'd told her husband. Thinking their baby was there was still a shock and she glanced up at her husband before smiling at him saying, "I look still."

"Me too," Castle said as he'd been looking at her abdomen as well. "We'll get used to it I'm sure."

"And by that time, I'm sure I'll be showing and then you really won't be able to stop staring," Beckett replied. She pulled on her sundress and told him once she'd tied the sash of it, "I'm ready."

"I'll follow you," Castle said easily before they left and then went around to the beach. He set up their umbrella, letting her lay out a blanket on the sand though he wanted to tell her that he could have done that. He knew, however, that she would protest his protection of her so he kept quiet. He allowed himself to stare at her however, ogling her body as she took off her sundress. He breathed out hard when she looked over at him and told her, "I still want you."

"I know," Beckett replied. She then reached out to him, taking his hand and pulling him down to the blanket with her so they were sitting together. As soon as he was she leaned against him, kissing him gently and briefly on the lips before murmuring to him in Irish.

"Wait… what?" Castle asked, jerking away from her roughly.

" _You can hear over the waves_ ," Beckett said with a smile, sticking with Irish though he'd spoken in English.

Breathing out a little hard Castle said, " _It's a risk_ -"

" _And we're alone_ ," Beckett said, that time ogling him as he took off his shirt. When she saw he was looking at her she smirked a little and said, "Just some sunscreen and then we can go in."

Castle nodded; not really able to think of what he could say to her slightly seductive tone; and helped her getting the sunscreen on her. The second he was covered he helped her stand before he went to the water ahead of her.

Beckett was smiling as she watched him, wondering if he realized he didn't really have to try to distract himself from his arousal after she'd asked him what she had. She waited though for him to swim out into the water before he was returning to her and she told him, "You were supposed to wait for me."

"Sorry I needed a break," Castle said. "Not a break from you but-"

"I know," Beckett replied, squeezing his arm gently before she looked over towards where her phone was.

"Who's that?" Castle asked.

"Lanie," Beckett replied after figuring out quickly in her head what time it was. "It's really early for her," she added as it was past four in the morning in the city.

"She must have gotten a body," Castle said. "You should check and see what she said though."

"Oh, she's probably going to razz me about being pregnant and doing this," Beckett said with a mock sigh. "Though she knows it doesn't matter."

"What's 'this'?" Castle asked, going to stand in the shade of the umbrella.

Smiling Beckett said, "She was able to guess why we're here; I think every adult is aware Rick."

Leaning down Castle kissed at her collarbone and said, "They won't blame us for this."

"I think they knew we wanted to celebrate my birthday," Beckett said absently as she was reading the text that her friend had sent. "And I was right; she's telling me to remember the baby while I have a rowdy celebration for my birthday."

"Rowdy? What are you telling her we're doing?" Castle asked, pretending to be stunned as she texted the doctor back.

Beckett smiled and said, "Nothing but she does know when we conceived."

"I so wish I'd heard that conversation," Castle said before they went together to the water when she was done.

"Better you didn't," Beckett said with a slight smirk. She then went underneath a wave and began to swim though she couldn't help recalling the conversation she'd had with her friend the day after her announcement e-mail as she looked down at the fish below her and her husband.

* * *

 _"I can't believe it," Lanie said after she and Beckett had greeted each other, speaking via Skype._

 _"It's true," Beckett said._

 _"No, what's hard to believe is that you're going to have a third child," Lanie replied. "When we talked about kids you were always so sure about two."_

 _"I know," Beckett had to concede since she'd always said in her mind she was only going to have two children if she could care for them. "But…"_

 _"You love your husband," Lanie supplied._

 _Beckett laughed softly and said to her friend, "The option was always in the air." She had to explain how she and Castle had left the option of another biological child between them open and the fact that he'd left the decision up to her._

 _"It'll be four years after that conversation, right?" Lanie asked._

 _"Yeah, I just… it was Father's Day this year that I started to really flirt with the idea of another," Beckett said thoughtfully. "But it was while we were going through Ireland that I just suddenly thought he was a wonderful father to our children and the idea of seeing him with our baby wouldn't leave me. And of course, I wanted another myself. So, I told him back in July and we then decided to try."_

 _"There's more to it than that," Lanie said, studying her friend._

 _Sighing Beckett told her friend about her and Castle waiting until her cousin's ball to try conceiving for one night and then waiting until after the wedding to start up again._

 _"And you're due the first of May," Lanie stated._

 _"The doctor confirmed that," Beckett said._

 _"Okay, so it only took you what once or twice to conceive?" Lanie asked her._

 _Breathing out a little hard Beckett took a moment before she told her, "Rick mentioned the same thing when I told him yesterday."_

 _"Then you know you need to be careful unless you want baby number four," Lanie pointed out._

 _Smiling Beckett said, "I've thought of that already but remember I've been with my husband since Eliza was a month old and I haven't gotten pregnant until now."_

 _"Good, now your symptoms," Lanie said._

 _"Of course, Dr. Parish," Beckett said, still smiling at her question. "And really, I don't have any, just fatigue but I thought that was because Rick and I were too eager being together."_

 _"Did you plan things out after your wedding?" Lanie asked._

 _"No, we were just… together," Beckett replied. After a pause she said, "How are you? Dylan?"_

 _The two spoke together about their significant others before Beckett was made to promise by Lanie that she would tell her via text messages as her pregnancy went along how she was doing. They hung up and Beckett went through the house to look for her husband as her discussion with her friend suddenly made her want to find him._

* * *

"Do we have the snorkeling stuff with us?" Castle asked his wife when they resurfaced.

"We do," Beckett said, smiling at him. "Did you want to grab that already?"

"I'm fine, I was just making sure," Castle replied. A wave passed them and he couldn't help saying, "You were serious."

Beckett tried not to roll her eyes and then said, "I was but let's swim a little more before we do anything else."

Castle nodded and then swam with her deeper into the water, after a while he suddenly remembered that there could be sharks and he said to his wife, "I think we should go back." When she looked at him he explained, "I'm just concerned about sharks."

"You watch _Jaws_ too many times," Beckett said with a smile. "But go, I'll follow," she told him. They swam side by side to the shore and when they could stand on the sand she made him stop there before she sat down, the water just barely coming up to her waist. "I hope they don't mind us calling in the morning again," she commented after they'd been looking out on the water together for a while.

"They won't," Castle said easily. "But that's not for another… four hours, are you bored with me already?"

Rolling her eyes Beckett gently splashed her husband before she said, "I can't help thinking about them. Now I don't want to bring them here. I'd prefer to take them to Hawaii…"

"What?" Castle asked in surprise.

"This summer," Beckett said.

"Oh, you know I forgot about that," Castle commented. "But you're right; we might not be able to take a trip."

"Not exactly," Beckett said. When her husband looked to her questioningly she said, "We should stay away from flying but there's always driving… maybe trains but I'd want to talk to Dr. Evans about that at least," referencing their daughters' pediatrician.

"Good idea, she'd be able to tell us where we can go exactly," Castle commented.

"You don't want to spout names of places?" Beckett asked him after he was silent.

Castle looked over at his wife and smiled saying, "Spout? Are you thinking of earlier?" He laughed when his wife splashed him hard with the water and he reached for her hand, kissing the back of it. "I'm waiting because we don't know when the baby will be born exactly. Early? Late? Right on time? I don't know," he then told her. He couldn't help it and he reached over to her abdomen, stroking it under the water slowly before saying, "Though I guess we're going to have to make some kind of plans the closer we get to May."

"We don't need to leave right away," Beckett commented. "The girls are all graduating this year; all three of them; and that will take us all through June."

"Right… Eliza and Julia the twelfth and Alexis the twentieth," Castle said. "So we should just go in July. The baby will be at least two months old which is… possible."

"It is, we've seen them that young around the city and those people are tourists," Beckett reminded him. She looked down at his hand that was still caressing her and she covered it with her own before pushing it down underneath the bottoms of her bikini. When she leaned back she was immensely pleased to feel his fingers touching her clit carefully, making her softly moan before he withdrew it. "What?" she asked in surprise.

"Come on," Castle said, standing up then and hurrying them to their things. He didn't let her linger too long before he was pulling her over to the hut and they went inside, leaving their blanket and umbrella but bringing their phones as that was the most important thing they had on them. Once he was sure those were set and the door was locked he pressed his wife against it, leaning down and taking her lips desperately before he felt her responding in the exact same way.

Beckett felt a heavy sense of elation as her husband drifted down to her neck and she tilted her head back for him. She had no idea what kinds of sounds she was making as he gently sucked on her skin but she knew they were at least letting him know how he was making her feel. When he moved away she told him, "The bed, please."

"Did you have enough of the couch and tables?" Castle asked jokingly as he picked her up immediately to carry her over to the bedroom.

"Yes," Beckett said simply. "But not outside." She tried not to smile when her husband's steps stumbled slightly before he reached the bed. But when he put her down on it she lost the urge to smile as he was grabbing for the top of her bikini. She assisted him with it before she was falling back as Castle went directly to her right breast, kissing at it hungrily before she felt him taking it into his mouth. While he proceeded to suckle at her she let out a heavy cry before holding onto the back of his head to try and have that as a kind of anchor since he was sending heavy waves of heated pleasure all through her body and they were making her tremble heavily.

Castle could have spent hours where he was, going over his wife's breasts as she writhed and trembled beneath him, but he finally pulled away as he was panting for breath heavily. "Sorry I… got a little lost," he told her when he forced himself up onto his knees.

"If that's how you get lost then please do so repeatedly," Beckett said with a smile as she sat up too.

"You have something?" Castle asked her.

"Yes," Beckett replied simply. When her husband looked at her in surprise she moved over to get off the bed and with him watching she removed the bottoms of her swimsuit, leaving her naked. She wasn't startled when her husband literally scrambled over to her and kissed around her, but what did was when she realized he wasn't just focusing on her abdomen as had been his wont since she'd told him she was pregnant. She felt the hot press of his lips all around her stomach, as well as her breasts and apex of her legs. Finally, he focused on the last before she realized he would continue if she didn't stop him. So she reached down for him and pulled him away before she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "You're still dressed," she told him simply as she pressed her breasts against his chest.

Breathing out once Castle pulled away from her so he could remove his trunks and once he was back with her he was going to pick her up again when she stopped him by placing her hand on his chest. "What?" he asked, trying to not pay attention for too long to the shock he got at her touching his bare skin though she'd already done so numerous times.

Without a word in response Beckett walked over to their suitcase, pulling two items out and telling him "Fifty-six."

Catching the book his wife had tossed to him Castle quickly flipped it to the page and breathed out at the picture of the position there. "Okay, but remember what it says at the bottom," he told her.

"I do," Beckett said as she handed him her vibrator.

"Okay," Castle said again before they went to the bed and he set the book on the nightstand on her side of the bed. He moved to sit on the mattress, back against the headboard firmly, before he waited for her to climb on top of him. He couldn't stop himself, cupping her breast with his free hand before she slid down his erection. He swore and tried not to grasp onto her too hard as the sensation of her surrounding him quickly was intense. Finally, she was firmly on his lap and he said, "When do you want me to use this?"

"Right away, your legs will go numb if we're not fast," Beckett said.

"What if we switched?" Castle asked as he was turning on the vibrator.

"You really want to?" Beckett responded.

"Y- it's up to you," Castle started to say before he reminded himself that he'd been planning to leave everything up to her since it was her birthday.

"Hurry Rick," Beckett told him, moving his hand so the shaking toy was down on her swollen nub. She cried out as he took over the last few centimeters and was at her clit and the shock was heavy through her entire body. That seemed to set her off and she set her feet firmly on the bed before she proceeded to move and hard. Crying out as she could feel him trying to move she reached behind her for him, holding onto him by the back of his head.

"Fuck… Kate I can't move," Castle hissed out as he was able to feel the vibrations through her sex and it was affecting him greatly. He didn't know why at that exact moment he pulled the toy away from her but he did and he was suddenly feeling only her. It wasn't as intense but it was still incredibly pleasurable while he reached for her clit with his other hand.

"This… will be fast too," Beckett gasped out, sliding slowly. She wanted to do that just once, moving up his member until he nearly popped out of her before she went back until her back was to his chest. She wasn't surprised when he grasped her to him tightly and then fondled her breasts at the same time though he only had one hand to do that at the moment. The other was moving the vibrator back to her sex but she made him take a detour, spreading her legs even wider before she made the toy touch underneath his length.

"Ah! Kate… stop," Castle said, having to literally fight his wife to get the vibrator off him. He was panting for air, even with the little time he'd been stimulated by the vibrations, it was enough to make him think he could have literally exploded in her. "You know I'm sensitive there," he said, slightly annoyed at his momentary lack of control but more at himself and not her.

"I know, I wanted you to have that too," Beckett told him with a slight smile. She breathed out heavily and then said, "Are you any closer?"

"Very, you need to be too," Castle said before he reached for her clit with the toy again and he ran it around the nub. He tried to move again then though it was almost impossible in his position and he managed to get a little motion against her. Luckily with her thrusting there was still friction and it was literally a delicious sensation that made him want more. He told himself that if they didn't last for very much longer he'd make sure; whatever position she wanted; they'd be taking their time. It was slightly bittersweet when he felt his wife climaxing heavily, following her gratefully as his legs were definitely going numb. But his discomfort was lost by Beckett drawing his release deeper within her and he had no idea why he thought what he did at that moment through the daze of bliss that was around him but he knew he had to tell his wife when they stopped though he was after her.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, turning to her husband when she could move. She watched with a smile as he leaned back against the headboard still but he was kicking around his legs before he then waved the vibrator. "Are you?" she then repeated, caressing what she could reach of his head.

"Yeah," Castle replied before he moved and pushed himself to the side of the bed to stand.

"Careful," Beckett said, as he got up.

"I know," Castle assured her before he walked slowly until he felt his legs getting the feeling back to them. He used the opportunity to put away his wife's vibrator before he turned to look at her, sitting on the bed on her knees.

"What?" Beckett asked, wondering at the way he was looking at her.

"You… take me in you at the end," Castle said.

"You mean your come?" Beckett asked. When her husband stopped abruptly she smiled and then told him, "It's what it is."

"Yes," Castle said simply, still thinking that over before he then shook himself to speak again. "It's not really necessary."

"No but I still want to," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when her husband almost threw himself at her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately before he laid her down. For a moment she wondered if he was going to take her as she could tell he wanted when he pulled away.

"Your choice again love," Castle said.

"You know you can make a suggestion, in fact I'm going to tell you to do so," Beckett told him firmly.

For a moment Castle was going to say no when he studied her and saw that she was serious. Finally, he nodded and said, "Okay."

Beckett was a little startled when that was all her husband said but realized why as he flipped them around so he was on his back. It seemed to come to her instantly and she scrambled to get up on his lap, crossing her legs at the same time. "I love you," she told him seriously once he was sheathed firmly within her.

"I love you too Kate," Castle said in the same tone though he was clenching his jaw hard.

They began to make love roughly, that time Castle moving with Beckett as he bent his knees. They took their time as well, stopping and slowing down from time to time before finally they were orgasming until they collapsed together.

"Much better," Castle said, raising his leg as he was laying on his side looking at her.

"Are you working out?" Beckett asked him in amusement.

"No but… apparently I'm starving," Castle said with a laugh as his stomach rumbling loudly interrupted him.

"What time is it?" Beckett said though she was getting up to check herself.

"What time is it?" Castle asked, watching her.

"It's… seven at home," Beckett said, going to her app that had times for cities around the world. "So another hour. Lunch?"

"Since I'm hungry and I'm sure you and the baby are…" Castle commented before trailing off.

Laughing Beckett got off the bed before they dressed back in their swimsuits. While he was cooking with some of the fish they'd gotten the day before from the man in his fishing boat she went back out into the water; at his insistence. And though she was still throbbing from her satiety and could still feel him in her, her mind went to the girls. She smiled as she thought of how they'd been the Thursday the week before, when they'd seemed to realize that they were really going to have a brother or sister. They'd been worried about her, trying to make her sit as much as possible before she and Castle talked to them. And as she'd been expecting, while they'd eaten lunch with her father the inevitable question had come up from Eliza.

* * *

 _"Mommy?" the little girl asked after they'd been eating for a while._

 _"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked as she glanced at her youngest who'd been largely quiet during their meal up to that point._

 _"The baby is gonna grow in your tummy," Eliza said._

 _"Close to it," Castle said._

 _Eliza nodded before she said, "How does the baby get there?"_

 _"I knew that was going to come up at some point," Jim commented, having been listening along with Julia._

 _"Mommy and Daddy told me," the girl said before her parents could speak._

 _"Then how?" Eliza asked._

 _"Because they're in love so much the baby gets there and then it'll be born," Julia said._

 _Eliza beamed at their parents and said, "Does that mean you're gonna have another baby after?"_

 _"It's also our choice," Beckett said._

 _"She's right and that means this'll be our last one," Castle said. "So it'll be the baby of the family."_

 _"What?" Eliza asked, startled at how her parents looked at each other._

 _"You're not going to be anymore," Julia whispered._

 _"But your parents will still love you," Jim said in a hurry. "We all will."_

 _"I know," Eliza said, looking at them as if they were crazy. "You love 'lexis and Jules still." She then gasped and said, "Are we gonna call the baby a special name?"_

 _"Probably," Julia said as she hadn't thought of that. "'lexis can think of really good ones."_

 _"But she won't until she knows the baby's name," Castle commented as he stood to help his father in law with clearing the table as they'd finished while they'd been talking._

 _"What do we do now?" Eliza asked as they all helped with cleaning up._

 _"Since it's a nicer day today," Beckett said. "And we finished our packing for the moment; want to play with the bows and arrows?" As the girls cried out in joy and the dogs began to bark in response to them she looked at her husband who was outright laughing. With all that noise it took a little time before they managed to go outside and they set up the target for the girls before they let them begin to play._

* * *

"Hey love," Castle said, waving to her after he'd set down the large plate that he'd carried out to the blanket. "What were you thinking about?"

"When Eliza asked that question Julia asked when I was pregnant with her," Beckett replied, walking out of the water to him.

"At least she bought it," Castle said, helping her sit next to him.

Beckett was going to speak but waited until they tapped their glasses together and then said after taking a sip, "I'm going to be telling Julia about Family Life."

Castle coughed into his glass of pineapple juice before he recovered and said, "She's going to think we're disgusting."

"She'd think that even if I wasn't pregnant," Beckett said practically. She then sighed and said, "But I'll tell her honestly that I'm pregnant right now because I love you. And I wanted another sign of that love between us one more time." She glanced at her husband and smiled when he did before she said, "I was thinking the same thing. Lanie mentioned that too; that I'd be getting pregnant again if we weren't careful."

"Good thing we are," Castle said, feeding her some of the fish he'd grilled. "Good?" he asked.

"Yes," Beckett said. She looked out on the water and said, "Can you find people selling fish in Hawaii like Mr. Lafayette does?"

"I've never looked out for it but that's more because I've stayed around Honolulu," Castle answered. He looked to his wife then and asked, "You're seeing it right now aren't you? Our three kids running around the water?"

"Four," Beckett reminded him. "Alexis would be there too."

"I almost forgot," Castle said. "Then I mean our three youngest kids running around with our fourth; the oldest; chasing after them."

"Slightly, the baby is too little for me to see it yet," Beckett said. "But I like the idea." She felt him moving next to her and watched him take his phone from his pocket saying with a smile, "You're going to break your phone doing that."

"I'm not going to apologize I love looking at this," Castle told her before he brought up the ultrasound picture of their baby. "And it's still hard to believe that's there right now," he said as he laid his hand on her stomach.

"For me too, once I feel it I'll believe," Beckett replied.

"When it starts kicking," Castle said as he put away his phone reluctantly so he could eat. "Will you let Alexis feel again?"

"This is her little sibling," Beckett replied. "So yes, I will." She studied him and said, "You're seeing that right now aren't you?"

"I am," Castle replied, nodding. He smiled as his wife carefully fed him some fish and he ate it before taking her hand and kissing her fingertips. He then leaned down to her to kiss her as he recalled nearly five years before when his daughter had come home for the holidays after Eliza had begun kicking inside Beckett.

* * *

 _"It's really good to be back out here," Alexis said to her father as they met at the top of the stairs._

 _"It's great you're here," Castle replied._

 _"How's Kate doing?" Alexis asked as they went down._

 _"She's good, showing a lot more now," Castle replied. "Which should make sense since we told you the baby is kicking now."_

 _"Sure you won't see what it is?" Alexis said when he pulled her over to the kitchen._

 _"I'm sure," Castle replied._

 _Watching her father prepare to make cocoa as she sat at the island Alexis asked him, "How are you Dad?"_

 _"What do you mean?" Castle asked, turning to her in surprise while he waited for the milk to heat up._

 _"Living out here," Alexis replied._

 _"It's… nice," Castle said after thinking for a moment. "I wasn't so sure living here permanently but I think it'll be best for Julia and the baby. Not that living in the city was bad it's just they're safer here."_

 _Alexis nodded before she said, "Will you ever tell them about why you moved? Especially Julia."_

 _Before Castle could answer he heard the door to the garage open and he said with a smile, "That's them."_

 _Though she wanted to comment on her father's obvious joy just at the sound of the door Alexis did want to see her sister and stepmother so she got up, turning in time to see the two stepping into the foyer._

 _"'lexis!" Julia cried at the sight of her big sister before she took off running._

 _"Good thing you got her coat off," Castle told his wife as he walked up to her._

 _"I had a feeling once I saw the car in the driveway I would need to," Beckett said with a smile before she was returning her husband's kiss. She allowed him to help her with her coat and once her scarf was off as well she turned her attention to her stepdaughter. "Alexis," she said with a smile. "Welcome home."_

 _"Thank you, Kate," Alexis replied as she embraced her. She was a little shocked at how much bigger her stomach had gotten though she reminded herself it had been nearly a month since she'd last seen her. "Dad says you're doing alright," she said when they let go of each other._

 _"The milk!" Castle suddenly exclaimed._

 _Watching him running down the hall to the kitchen with Beckett and Julia, Alexis said to them, "He was making cocoa for us."_

 _"Mommy-" Julia started to say._

 _"Come on," Beckett said with a smile, taking her hand. "How was your drive?" she directed to her stepdaughter._

 _"It was nice," Alexis said. "I'm lucky I got good weather."_

 _"Okay, luckily the milk is fine," Castle said to his family as they were around the island. "And we have cocoa." He looked at his wife then and said, "Kate?"_

 _"It's kicking," Beckett replied with a smile as their daughters looked to her immediately. She had her hand on her stomach and she looked at Julia as the little girl rushed to her. "Here," she told her as she took her hand to rest against her abdomen._

 _"Ooh it's dancing," Julia said before she giggled._

 _"I guess so," Beckett said, shaking her head. "You can feel Alexis," she said, studying her stepdaughter and seeing the slightly troubled expression on her face._

 _"That's okay, it-" the young woman started to say._

 _"It wouldn't be weird," Beckett said simply and with a smile. "This is your brother or sister."_

 _"Okay," Alexis said before going over to her. She was going to set her hand where she'd seen Julia do so when her stepmother took it carefully. She couldn't help but feel a little strange touching Beckett's stomach but that was quickly lost as she felt a tap underneath her hand. It was her first time feeling that and she said, "That's incredible," a second before she felt yet another tap, that one a little fainter. "What is it like?" she couldn't help asking._

 _"To be honest it's incredible," Beckett said. "Maybe one day you'll feel it yourself."_

 _"If I do that's not for a while," Alexis said, smiling at her before they glanced at Castle who was rolling his eyes. "Thank you," she said earnestly._

 _"You're welcome," Beckett told her before Alexis got out of the way for her father. "It's still moving," she told him with a smile._

 _"I was hoping," Castle replied before he let her guide his hand. He also cupped the other side of her abdomen though he could only feel the gentle kick of the baby with his right. "I'd say dancing," he said, smiling at her. "If it was soccer they'd need a much stronger kick."_

 _Alexis glanced at Julia when their parents began to kiss, seeing that the little girl was watching them with a smile. She looked back to Castle and Beckett and smiled at the sight herself before taking her sister to put her on her lap as she sat down._

 _The cry of their daughter shook Castle and Beckett and they smiled at each other before turning their attention to their daughters and their cocoa._

* * *

"They said they're ready," Castle said as he waved his phone in the air.

"Listen," Beckett said while he was going to the TV. "After this I'd like to snorkel."

"Sure," Castle replied, looking at the screen before he spoke again rapidly. "I want to too and our stuff is out there already."

With a nod Beckett turned her attention with him to the screen where their daughters were appearing and she smiled saying, "Hello girls."

"Happy Birthday Mommy!" the two said together.

"Thank you. You set that up with them, didn't you?" Beckett told her husband, trying not to laugh.

"Guilty but come on, tell me you didn't like that," Castle said.

"How are you Mommy?" Julia asked after her mother had squeezed her father's arm.

"I'm fine," Beckett said, not surprised she'd asked though she'd said the same thing the day before. "And so is your daddy."

"Are you having a nice birthday?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Very," Beckett said. "The weather is nice and we've already been in the water."

"Did you see sharks?" Eliza then asked.

"Were you talking to her about that?" Beckett said to her husband.

"I may have," Castle replied.

"He said they were there," Julia told her mother.

"Hey Dad," Beckett then said, looking at him on the couch behind the two.

"Hello Katie, I'd ask about your birthday but you answered already," Jim told her. "And about the baby too."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said. "How've they been?"

"Very good," Jim answered with a nod. "But they are eager for you two to come back."

"We'll be back on Tuesday like we said," Castle said, looking at the girls. "What if your mom had wanted to stay longer?"

"You could have-" Julia began.

"But we wanna see you too," Eliza finished.

"They're learning from us," Beckett murmured to her husband with a smile.

"I guess so," Castle replied.

"But now," Beckett said to their daughters. "We have all of Saturday to go over so we want to know what you got up to yesterday after we called."

Looking at each other the girls then took turns describing what they did after their early morning call with their parents. They'd gone to the library, the toy store and last the bookstore before playing the rest of the day, except for Julia.

"And where did you go?" Castle asked.

"I rode around with Mari, it was a nice day and Grandpapa said I could," Julia replied.

"Cabin fever?" Beckett asked her father.

"It was," Jim said before his gaze obviously went to Eliza.

"Did you ride too?" Castle said to the little girl.

Giggling a little at first Eliza finally nodded and she told them, "I rode in front of the house, Grandpapa walked with me."

"We went around the block together," Jim explained. "She's getting fast."

"She did," Castle said, knowing from experience that she would do that.

"But I was good," Eliza said quickly.

"We knew already you would be," Beckett said. "And what did you do for dinner?"

"Grandpapa made us soup and sammiches," Eliza said.

"They looked like they needed warming up," Jim commented.

"And it did, and it was really good," Julia added.

"What about your plans for today?" Castle asked.

"We might take the dogs to the dog park first," Jim said as the girls looked at him. "And then head to the stables."

"To see the horsies," Eliza said with a nod.

"Especially Alex," Julia said before her mother could speak. "Did you tell him that you weren't gonna be able to ride him for right now?"

"I think he knows," Beckett said. "Your daddy has been riding him instead."

A sudden gasp came from Eliza and she said, "You can't ride on Thanksgiving!"

"That's okay," Castle said. "It's supposed to snow that day anyway."

"But we are going to see the horses," Beckett added. "I would like to check on Lottie and maybe walk Alex around the indoor corral."

"Can we go?" Julia asked hopefully.

"You'll need to," Castle replied. "We're going to get the tree afterwards so we can decorate it that night."

"I told you," Julia said to her little sister.

"Are you going to do anything else?" Beckett asked after she and her husband had shared a smile at their daughters' exchange.

"We'll see how the weather works out today," Jim said as the girls were looking at him for the answer.

"What about you and Daddy?" Eliza then said. "What did you do?"

"It's mainly been swimming," Castle said seriously.

"You didn't snorkel yet?" Julia asked.

"We were resting yesterday after the flight so we only went swimming," Beckett said simply. She smiled and said, "We'll do that as soon as we hang up with you."

"Which is now?" Castle asked her.

"I think it needs to be, so you two can start your day," Beckett said as she was looking at the girls.

"And so you can see the pretty fishies," Eliza said quickly.

"And we will," Castle said. "I love you two, have a lot of fun with your grandpapa and at school tomorrow."

"Will you be home in time before we go to school Tuesday?" Julia then asked.

"I don't think we will but we'll be there when you get out for sure," Beckett assured them.

"Okay," Julia said, feeling like it would take forever to get to that day. But she shook herself and said, "I love you too Daddy."

"Love you Daddy!" Eliza added exuberantly. "And I love you Mommy."

"I love you Eliza, Julia and like your daddy said have a lot of fun today," Beckett told them.

"Love you Mommy and have fun," Julia said. "For the rest of your birthday."

"I'm sure I will," Beckett said with a smile. "We'll text you when we land Dad, love you."

"I love you too Katie," Jim replied. "Have a safe trip."

"We will," Castle said before saying goodbye to the three as Beckett blew a kiss to their daughters while they waved to them. When the screen went black he was about to speak when his wife suddenly jumped onto him and he grunted before responding to the kiss that she'd planted on his lips. Holding onto her tightly he plunged his tongue into her mouth before he realized that her hands had moved from his shoulders. He didn't know where they were before suddenly he did; they were almost tearing open the Velcro of his trunks. "Kate," he gasped out hard as she gently eased out his erection. "You-" he began.

Crushing her lips to his before he could protest, Beckett plunged her tongue into his mouth that time and they tangled around hungrily until she needed to breathe. When she was looking at him she said, "Don't stop me."

"Okay," Castle said as her tone was incredibly firm. He had a hard time speaking as she had been stroking him that entire time and the sensation was making him tense heavily in the pleasure she was making him feel. "Just… don't take too long," he said.

Beckett smirked at him before she moved to get on her knees on the floor, not surprised when her husband immediately hauled her back up on the couch before pulling off his trunks. "You never let me have any fun," she teased him as he spread his legs for her.

"I just don't like you on the floor," Castle said honestly. "Unless I'm there with you."

Though she had to see his point Beckett said, "What if I did the same to you?"

"It's what you want," Castle said simply. When his wife lowered her head without saying a word he tried to hold back on reacting too badly before she was slipping her mouth over his erection. Swearing heavily in pleasure he reached down to her, holding her by her hair carefully as she slid down until he was almost fully in her mouth. When she pulled back up and proceeded to bob her head up and down rapidly only around the tip of him he was swearing continuously.

Hearing him Beckett wanted to smile but she was too busy working over him to do so. Instead she just focused on him though her rising arousal was beginning to tug at her attention. She resisted the urge to touch herself as she listened to Castle's reactions to her and instead she then moved to something different. Her mouth pulled off him and she began to kiss all around her husband's length.

"Wait… fuck my love," Castle nearly hissed in his delight as she took him back into her mouth once more. That time she was using her right hand as well and he gave up completely that time to try and keep from losing control. He was overwhelmed by the way she took care of him and the heavy warmth of pleasure she provided and he came in relief as she didn't stop working on him until he was still once more, limp underneath her in his absolute satiety.


	33. Everywhere With My Love (Part 2)

Pulling away very slowly; and satisfied at her husband's groan of pleasure; Beckett moved to lie on top of him saying, "At least you don't stop me from doing that."

"I know you enjoy it," Castle groaned out as her weight was pressure on his only slightly diminished erection. "Which was a surprise; I didn't know."

"But then again, I've only done it with you," Beckett replied.

"I know, I'm grateful for that," Castle said. He glanced at her and saw her questioning look before he said, "That way you learned on my…," gesturing to his erection.

"And I'm on you right now," Beckett said to him with a smirk on her face.

"What do you want?" Castle asked her. He was startled when she got off him and got out of her dress and bikini easily. He had sat up in that time and he grabbed her, pulling her to him so she was leaning over him. He hungrily rolled his tongue over her right nipple before surrounding it with his lips.

As her husband rubbed the nub with his tongue Beckett grabbed his right hand and moved it to in between her legs. She was relieved when he took over quickly and gently rubbed at her clit before he slid his index finger down to her entrance and began to go back and forth between the two. She made him stop then as the way he was touching her was pleasurable but not quite satisfying enough. She was about to suggest they move to the bed when her husband moved her so she was sitting on the couch instead.

When he got on his knees in front of her Castle wasn't surprised when she tried to stop him; thinking of his knee he knew; but he merely told her, "For your birthday."

"Your knee…" Beckett started to say before she nodded and moved so her body was closer to the edge of seat. Looking down at him she placed her hands on the back of his head, caressing him as he was kissing over her upper body. His lips trailing around her breasts nearly made her fall back but she just managed to stay up before he moved down again. Seeing he'd paused she asked with a smile, "Didn't think that out, did you?"

"I thought I could," Castle said with a sigh. He studied her for a moment and then looked at the coffee table behind him, sweeping it clear before he helped his wife lay down on it.

Since she was taller than the table was long Beckett watched as her husband held her up slightly by her ass while she hooked her legs over his shoulders. It wasn't the first time they'd done the same thing on that same table and she braced herself for when he reached her sex. It didn't take long and she was crying out in joy as the shock at his touch was a jolt that seemed to shoot right up her spine. She couldn't reach out to him and instead held onto the sides of the table tightly while he slipped his tongue fully within her. She was soon gasping for air as he moved his head to move his tongue and it was making her throb even harder than she already was. She thrust her body with him though it was very gentle since he wasn't doing so too hard himself and could feel herself slowly inching to the edge already. She tried to let him know but could only moan and cry out softly in pleasure as he wouldn't let up on her body. Finally, he moved away but she could feel he wasn't far and she said, "Should we go to the bed?"

"Are you uncomfortable?" Castle said, looking up at her.

"No," Beckett replied. "I was thinking more of you," she told him since she knew he was on the floor still in that position.

"And I'm fine," Castle assured her before he went back down to her. He proceeded to pleasure her once more, not letting himself stop as he knew she was already close after what she'd done for him before.

Beckett could somehow sense her husband wasn't going to ease off that time and she did her best to brace herself for the end once she got to it. It was not far off and with only a few passes of Castle's tongue she was breaking completely. Feeling as if she was throbbing from head to toe instead of just at her sex she was undulating on the table, hoping in the back of her mind that she wouldn't fall off it as she couldn't control her movements. Her body was soon burning in her ecstasy and she was crying her husband's name repeatedly until things leveled off. She continued to move, even as her orgasm was stopping, and by the time everything had ceased she was still trembling. "I…" she started to breathe out, opening her eyes when she was recovered enough for that.

Castle didn't say a word; instead he helped her get up before they moved to the couch though she hesitated. "You don't want to sit?" he asked.

"Not naked," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when he nodded and helped her dress back in her bikini and then her sundress before she literally collapsed on the couch and watched her husband getting dressed himself. It didn't take long and as soon as he was sitting next to her she went to him quickly and sat on his lap.

"We're supposed to go snorkeling, aren't we?" Castle asked her.

"Hmm," Beckett said, leaning her forehead against his. "We have a lot of time still."

"Then I guess I should ask what time do you want to eat dinner?" Castle asked.

"Early," Beckett told him.

"Early?" Castle asked in surprise. "How early?"

"Around… six or so," Beckett said. "However long it takes you to cook." She watched him looking at his watch and she asked, "How long does that give us?"

"About three hours now," Castle replied. He then glanced at her and with a wry smile told her, "We took a while."

"It was needed," Beckett replied. "But I was looking to hold off on anything else until after dinner."

"I'm not surprised," Castle said, nodding his head. Something came to him and he said, "We're going to be… busy then?"

"Yes," Beckett said simply before she kissed her husband hard on the lips. When she felt him groan she didn't stop, wrapping her arms even tighter around him as their tongues were literally fighting in between their mouths. She had no idea what made them slow down but they were doing so, tilting their heads back and forth carefully.

When they stopped Castle said, "You're… _I love you_ ," his tone serious though he was gasping for air. " _Especially for today though I know this was what you wanted… Just the fact you wanted this is amazing_."

" _I'm not doing this for no reason_ ," Beckett replied. " _I love you so much that just kissing you isn't going to cut it_."

" _No_?" Castle asked with a smile though he knew the answer already.

" _No_ ," Beckett said before leaning against him. She felt his hand moving then down to her abdomen and she smiled before saying, "I guess that's a large reason why I wanted another baby."

"Evidence?" Castle asked with a smile.

Beckett laughed at his choice of word and said, "It is but that was just one reason."

"Did you think about the girls too?" Castle asked her.

"Of course," Beckett replied. "I'm still surprised they both wanted to have another sister."

"The fact that Julia did too or they wanted to have a sister?" Castle said, watching her stand up and knowing their talk turning to their daughters was the definite end to their intimacy.

"That Julia wanted a sibling too in general," Beckett answered as she stepped out the front door first. "No surprise she wanted a sister, or sibling as she's said."

Castle nodded and then followed her to their things still on the sand before he started getting their snorkel gear out of the bag. "How far do you want to go out?" he asked.

"Why don't we go north a little further than we have before?" Beckett suggested.

"Great, I'll let you lead," Castle replied, about to put the snorkel itself to his mouth before his wife pulled it back out. "What?" he asked.

"Say if you want to go any further," Beckett replied. "Just because it's my birthday doesn't mean we can't do something you want to. In fact," she said before pausing. "Tonight, we will."

Though Castle wanted to protest he found he couldn't as his wife walked ahead of him over to the water. Breathing out hard he followed her quickly before he slipped on his flippers as she was doing the same.

Once the two were fully in the water they went as deep as they could before they made their way north until Beckett stopped them and she was the first to duck under.

She went down to the reef that was underneath them and looked to make sure her husband was with her. When Beckett was sure she pointed out the blue tang that were near her before he nodded and she saw something behind him before pointing.

Turning his head Castle saw a type of ray swimming there and he swam over to it running his hand over it before he saw his wife was with him and doing the same. He had to propel himself up to the surface and after taking the snorkel out of his mouth he said, "The girls are going to be jealous."

"Do you see any of those around Hawaii?" Beckett asked.

"I'll have to look it up," Castle replied. "I'm hoping but if we go to aquariums we'll likely find some for them to touch."

Nodding Beckett said, "Keep going?"

"I'll follow you," Castle replied. "Did you see the Parrotfish?"

"I did," Beckett replied before she placed the snorkel back in her mouth. She ducked under and headed back to the reef though she didn't go all the way down to it; instead she swam along it just above it. She headed further north with her husband, marveling at the fish as she was seeing some they hadn't before until they had to go back up to the top again. "Do you know what some of those were?" she asked him when they'd caught their breath enough.

"The red ones were Glasseyes," Castle said. "And we got to see a Zebra Pipefish too that was awesome. And the striped ones were Convict Tangs."

"Of course," Beckett replied with a slight smile. "We couldn't get away from it even here. Do you want to go back?"

"Actually, what if we tried to go out further?" Castle said.

"We can," Beckett said. "But when we do go back I'd like to swim along the top."

"To look down?" Castle asked her. She nodded and he leaned over, kissing her gently before he said, "Great idea."

"Thanks," Beckett said with a slight smile. "How about this one, we buy them snorkel gear for them to learn how to do this too?"

"I was going suggest that myself," Castle told her. "So I agree, come on."

They went back underneath and further out into the water, seeing more of a variety as they did so before they needed to breathe again. Without any discussion they headed back towards the hut, doing what Beckett had suggested before they reached the beach in front of their stuff.

"That was great," Beckett commented after she was sitting down on their blanket. She looked up at her husband as he stayed standing and she sighed, "Go ahead, ask."

"If you already know what I want to know then you should answer," Castle replied.

"I'm fine," Beckett replied with a smile before she reached up to him. She tugged him down next to her and as soon as he was sitting she said, "I'm not fragile yet."

"I don't think you ever will be," Castle said smiling himself. He looked ahead at the waves breaking and he said, "But we can't all help worry about you, you're precious to us; both of you."

"A little sappy love," Beckett said though she was smiling again.

"I stand by what I said," Castle replied before he looked at her and then studied her. "And I want you with me for a long time yet."

"And I will be I'm planning on making sure we're together here for a lot more of my birthdays," Beckett said. She rubbed his arm and said, "We're getting a little too serious though."

"We are, want to swim again or walk through the foliage?" Castle asked, gesturing behind him with a smile.

"The lagoon," Beckett said before they got up.

"What did you think of the girls' gifts?" Castle asked his wife once they were near the lagoon.

"They were great," Beckett replied. "What did you think I'd say they were awful and throw them out?"

"Julia was really worried about that _Lladro_ ," Castle explained. "Eliza too come to think of it."

"She didn't need to be, it's like the riders you gave me after our wedding," Beckett said with a shrug. "The same style anyways. And besides the style of them they were touching since they matched pictures of me doing the same things with them. Almost the exact same positions too." When her husband nodded she then walked ahead to the water before stepping in, still thinking about her gifts from the girls and her father as they'd celebrated her birthday the day before they'd left them.

* * *

 _"Can we get them; can we get them?" Eliza asked eagerly._

 _"Yes, she finished her cake," Castle said laughingly._

 _"I'm surprised they ate their slices," Jim said as he helped his son in law clear the table up since they'd all finished their slices of Boston Cream Pie Castle had gotten for Beckett._

 _"I think it was the ganâche on top," Castle commented with a smile. He saw the girls were coming back to them and he turned to his wife to speak when he heard Eliza chanting as they neared._

 _"Presents, presents, presents!" the little girl was saying before she tried to get her gift onto the table but had a little bit of a struggle before her mother helped her._

 _"I can see that sweetie," Beckett said with a smile. When she saw her father leaving them she said, "I guess he has one for me too."_

 _"Of course, he does, it's your birthday," Julia said after she'd put her gift next to her sisters'._

 _"What's wrong sweetie?" Beckett asked after she put Eliza on her lap, holding her arm out to her daughter._

 _"I don't know if you'll like my present," Julia finally said though she hesitated at first._

 _"I will," Beckett promised. "I always love your gifts to me; you're like your daddy you both put a lot of thought in them." She was dismayed to see Julia only nod and hoped that once she saw the gifts her oldest would feel better._

 _"Now we're ready," Castle said as he watched his father in law set the small gift in front of Beckett._

 _"Okay," she said slightly laughingly. Beckett took her father's gift and unwrapped it quickly before she took the lid off the box. "You found this," she said with a smile._

 _"I did, and now you know why I rushed to the city earlier this morning," Jim said with a smile._

 _"What is it?" Eliza asked._

 _"I had this same bracelet when I was a baby," Beckett said pulling out a simple silver chain. "He bought it in Spain."_

 _"Are you going to give it to the baby?" Eliza said._

 _"I already know what I want do with this," Beckett told them. "I appreciate it Dad."_

 _"That's not it though," Jim told her._

 _With some surprise Beckett went through the tissue paper and realized that there was another gift, a card for the downtown stores and she said, "Was this your first gift?"_

 _"It was, something made me want to get that bracelet though and I did," Jim said. "I wasn't thinking of the baby though."_

 _"I know, I used to love this bracelet," Beckett said._

 _"Did you take it back to Spain and add onto it?" Castle asked his father in law as he noticed the bracelet was a little too big for a baby._

 _"I did, when she was six but I never took it back," Jim replied._

 _"So as of now…" Beckett said, taking Eliza's wrist as the little girl was standing next to her. She put it around her and said, "This is yours."_

 _"But… it was a present," Eliza said though she loved the bracelet already._

 _"And since I gave it to your mother she can do what she likes with it," Jim told her. "And if she wants to give it to you then she can."_

 _"Thank you," the little girl said to them both._

 _"Thank you, Dad," Beckett said to her father. She turned her attention to the girls' gifts and said, "Are they the same?" as the boxes were the same exact shape._

 _"Sorta," the two said at the same time after they'd shared a look._

 _"Then I want you two to help me," Beckett told them. "And I know they're your gifts to me but if they're close I want to see them at the same time."_

 _"Okay," Julia said slowly._

 _"Come on," Beckett told them. She counted down to one and while the girls were unwrapping Eliza's present she'd stood to unwrap Julia's. After the boxes were revealed she then stopped when her husband made her. "What?" she asked._

 _"You're still not going to be able to see them at the same time like this," Castle explained to her. "I have a better idea, close your eyes."_

 _Sitting back down Beckett closed her eyes and then heard, she assumed, her husband and father in law opening the boxes and taking out the gifts inside. When her daughters told her to open her eyes she did so and was startled when her eyes filled with tears the second she saw what the girls; with Castle's help she knew; had gotten her._

 _"Do they make you sad?" Eliza asked, sounding panicked._

 _"No," Beckett said, waving off her husband. "That's the pregnancy already," she explained when he handed her his handkerchief after some of her tears spilled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away and said, "I love them, they're beautiful."_

 _Sounding relieved Julia said, "We have pictures that kinda look like that; us with you."_

 _"I thought of that too," Beckett said, bringing both girls to her and kissing their cheeks lovingly. "I'll have to think of where to put them… I think in our room is the best place." She kissed the two again when they gave her beaming smiles and looked at her Lladros, both figurines of mothers with their daughters. Julia's was of a mother and daughter on a couch and the mother reading to the daughter while Eliza's was a mother sitting with her daughter between her legs. "Thank you so much," she told them honestly, kissing them both a third time._

 _"Daddy are you sure you don't want to give your gifts now?" Julia asked, excited in her relief that her mother liked her gift so much._

 _"Yes, you three get the spotlight tonight," Castle said, smiling when the girls giggled._

 _"Want to help me put these away?" Beckett asked them._

 _"Yeah," the two said eagerly._

 _Beckett took her daughters up to hers and Castle's room; her husband and father following behind them. After they were inside she moved what she had on the dresser before she took the Lladro Eliza was holding and put it to the left of a wood carved figurine of Shiva and Parvati her husband had bought for her and then put Julia's to the right of the figurine. "Thank you this was already a great birthday and I haven't even gotten to it yet," she told the two. When they started to embrace her she said, "Hold on," before she took them over to the armchairs and sat on one before taking them into her arms, kissing them again. "I love you Julia, Eliza and every time I see those Lladros I will think of that. That and how much I love that you're my daughters."_

 _"I'll think that I love that you're our Mommy," Julia said immediately._

 _"Me too," Eliza said seriously._

 _"I feel the same too," Castle said when the girls looked at him after they'd embraced their mother again._

 _"Good," Eliza said firmly._

 _"Now we can go play some games," Beckett said, standing back up. "That's how I want to spend the rest of my birthday with you." She smiled when the girls both cheered loudly and she walked with them over to the door as Castle and Jim followed them down to the living room so they could play together._

* * *

"You look beautiful Kate," Castle said when he looked up and saw his wife was walking over to him.

"Thank you," Beckett said, reaching up and fixing the collar of his light blue dress shirt. "You look… _breá_ ," she told him, ending on a sigh.

"You're going to make me forget you wanted to wait until after dinner," Castle said, tense suddenly as his wife had just said he looked delicious.

"I realized but I needed to let you know," Beckett said simply. "How are you doing?"

Glad for the subject change; as it wasn't hard for him to become aroused or to do so rapidly; Castle told her, "Very well, I'm almost done actually so head out to the table."

"Okay," Beckett said before she went to the deck, going to the railing. She looked at the water for a long time, soon hearing her husband walking out behind her and setting everything down on the table.

Walking up to her Castle said, "What're you thinking?"

"I'm just wondering what they're doing right now," Beckett commented.

"Lunch maybe… or still at the library," Castle said.

"Maybe," Beckett said with a soft laugh. "Let's eat I'm starving."

"I'm glad to see that," Castle told her. When his wife looked at him he said quickly, "Mother let me know that you lost some weight at the beginning of the pregnancy."

"I wasn't sick, just not very hungry," Beckett told him as she quickly recalled her last fitting of her Halloween costume. "I'm better now which is good because you outdid yourself," she said as she looked down at her plate which had a molded tower of what looked like fish and vegetables.

"Just a little something I wanted to experiment with, those are plantains I was able to fry and last for some texture since the veggies in the tower are cooked, crispy snap peas," Castle explained as his dish was the same as hers.

"Thank you, Rick," Beckett said with a smile. "It looks great; and tropical."

"There is some guava juice in with the veggies," Castle said.

"Were you holding your own personal _Chopped_ competition?" Beckett teased him.

"Sure, I beat out Harvey the Rabbit and Claude Raines," Castle said nonchalantly. When his wife shook her head, he opened the bottle of sparkling apple cider that he'd arranged to be in the house before they'd gotten there, pouring it out for them both. "Happy Birthday love," he said once he was sitting down.

"Thank you love," Beckett said, smiling before he tapped his glass to hers and she then sipped her drink. They started to eat and she brought up their Thanksgiving plans, not sure why they talked about the food when they were currently eating. But the discussion of that took them through the meal and she waited for him to finish clearing the table when they were done by leaning against the railing.

"Kate?" Castle asked, going back out to her.

Turning to him Beckett smiled and said, "I thought you were going to put a candle on there."

"I was thinking about it but then decided you'd be fine with candles once," Castle replied.

"I am," Beckett said, going over to him and letting him pull her onto his lap. She picked up the fork that went with the fruit salad he'd made yet again as their dessert and she ate, feeding him as well while he held onto her tightly. "Are you thinking of dancing?" she asked.

"You know me too well," Castle said with a smile.

"I'm interested in seeing; hearing; what you have in mind," Beckett told him.

"You'll find out now," Castle replied as they had finished the fruit salad by then. He kissed her cheek and hurried to put take the bowl away before he went back out to his wife, seeing she was waiting for him. He paused only a moment to begin the song he'd found just for that night and went to her. He took her in his arms before they began to sway to the song he'd chosen just before the lyrics began to be sung, feeling her cheek press to his as he whispered the words into her ear.

 _That is all I want to say  
Our love could save the day  
That is all I'm waiting for  
Your love and nothing more_

 _And that is all I want to do  
To get right next to you  
That is all I'm living for,  
Your love and nothing more  
And that is all_

 _Times I find it hard to say  
With useless words getting in my way  
Silence often says much more  
Than trying to say what's been said before_

 _That is all I want from you  
A smile when I feel blue  
That is all I'm waiting for  
Your love and nothing more_

 _And that is all_

At the instrumental Beckett said to her husband, "Are you trying to remind me?"

"No," Castle said quickly as the lyrics had come back by then.

 _Silence often says much more  
Than trying to say what's been said before  
But that is all I want to do  
To give my love to you  
That is all I'm living for  
Please let me love you more- and  
That is all_

The song ended quickly after that last line and Beckett smiled at Castle and commented, "You know that it applies to us both right?"

"You can admit to that?" Castle asked her.

"Mmm-hmm," Beckett said simply before he leaned over and kissed her deeply. She held onto him tightly as their tongues hungrily met but she didn't let it last for very long. She wasn't surprised when he looked at her; obviously startled; and she said, "I think we need to go inside."

Though he'd wanted to do what they had the night before Castle nodded and followed her into the house, closing the door behind them. After they were in the bedroom he looked on while she was opening the sliding door before he went to her. " _I told you you look beautiful, right_?" he asked her.

Beckett smiled and said, " _I think you mentioned it before_."

" _Then I'll say it again_ ," Castle told her seriously. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips before he realized she'd reached up for the top button on his shirt. Though he wanted to get her undressed first he allowed her to begin unbuttoning his shirt before it was open and he watched her run her nails down his chest. " _What's on your mind_?" he asked her.

Not surprised he'd been able to tell as she knew he'd been staring at her that whole time Beckett told him, " _I know already what I want us to do… and at least three positions tonight_."

"Oh?" Castle asked.

With a smile Beckett then hurried over to the book that was still on her nightstand and picked it up, flipping through it. " _For starters_ ," she told her husband as she handed it to him.

Studying the position Castle nodded and said, " _Then we should_ -" before she pressed her index finger to his lips.

" _We need to wash our feet first_ ," Beckett told him.

"Oh… _true_ ," Castle said as he glanced back at the picture. He went with her over to the bathroom where they rapidly washed before he carried her over to the bed since she needed her feet clean more than him. Setting her down he started to kiss her, not touching her dress as he decided they needed to take a little time before they began. They were sensuous and passionate before he pulled away and said to her, " _That wasn't all that you thought of though_."

Beckett brushed her lips against his and said, " _No, I don't want to pause for all that long in between these three I thought of. Just show you the position and we start again. And… twice_."

" _Twice_?" Castle asked, breathing heavily.

With only a nod of her head Beckett leaned into him and they kissed hungrily once more before she felt his hands on the back of her dress. After it was unzipped she pulled off her light blue dress and revealed to her husband that she was already naked beneath.

" _I should have known_ ," Castle breathed out. " _By the way_ ," he said as he took off his shirt in a rush. " _I'll manage twice_."

A little startled at her husband suddenly sounding confident Beckett watched him get up and completely disrobe. She went to him before he got back onto the bed and held onto his erection, making him freeze. " _I'll have to manage this time_ ," she reminded him.

" _And I might have to switch us around to get to that second time_ ," Castle said before he carefully made her let him go and got up on the bed, lying down immediately. He reached up to her before she could straddle him and rubbed at her sex, feeling that she was in fact fully prepared by then. " _That fast_?" he asked, letting her move.

" _That fast_ ," Beckett said as she couldn't really say anything else to that, too focused on preparing them. They were silent as she waited for him to bend his knees and she moved slightly to take him inside of her. She gasped softly at the way he felt; though she'd felt him several times that day; pleasure rushing through her instantly at the way he filled her completely once their hips were touching. As soon as they were coupled she leaned back, bringing her feet up to rest on his chest, near his neck. "Okay?" she breathed a little hard as the movement had affected her greatly.

"Yes but… damn it I can only see your legs," Castle said as he did enjoy the position but he couldn't see her because she was leaning back.

"It won't last for long," Beckett replied. With that said she began to move, at least wanting to see what it felt like in that position as they'd never used it before. She cried out while he swore again since he was deep and while neither of them could move too much it was still satisfying. She was relieved that he could move with his bent legs but with her in the way and how she was it wasn't all that much. So she tried to think of how they could move to have better access to each other though it was difficult as they still had some friction between them.

Though he couldn't see her Castle tried to make the best of the situation, reaching to her legs, rubbing around her skin a few times before he slowly moved to her knees. "Kate," he started to say. He was a little startled when she moved suddenly, sitting up on her knees, and he sat up with her before their lips crushed together automatically. "That has to be a record," he told her when they parted, grunting at the end as his wife was beginning to rock her hips.

"I know but… I couldn't see you either," Beckett said, pausing and rolling her hips around him. She gasped as her husband grasped at her tightly and she made the same motion a few more times, both groaning in pleasure before she stopped and they kissed. She felt his hands all around her back before he cupped her ass and she pulled away to whisper into his ear.

Though he was a little startled Castle didn't hesitate for a second, instead he reached for her ass, cupping it with one hand again while the other was on the small of her back. He then did exactly as she asked, slapping at her and careful not to do so too hard while she cried out heavily and arched her back. He tried his best to move but since his legs were stretched out he couldn't that much. So he slapped her a few more times as she was begging him and then began to move, sitting up on his knees before he grabbed his wife tightly by her waist and started to move her himself.

At first Beckett still didn't move but finally she couldn't resist the temptation that he was giving her by just barely getting her to move around him. So she began to thrust on her own and the second Castle let her go she wasn't surprised to feel him holding onto her back. When he leaned down to her neck and kissed at it she moaned and began stroking the back of his head tenderly before she brought him up to her so they could kiss. Since she initiated it she kissed him as hard as she possibly could before he was sliding his hand around to her front. Having been literally bouncing on him by then she went a little crazy as feeling his hands fondling her was almost too much to resist. And after a moment the inevitable happened and she dislodged him by raising her body too much.

"Don't worry," Castle said, grunting as his wife was hurriedly apologizing when she landed back on his erection. "It'll happen," he told her before he held himself to let her get back on him again. He wrapped his arms around her tightly before she could move and said, "But up until then thank you."  
"You're going to thank me again," Beckett told him simply before she leaned back in his arms so he would understand what she wanted him to do.

Slightly surprised Castle quickly got the idea and he leaned down to her, brushing his lips around her breasts. Her gasp of pleasure was like a jolt through him and he had to almost fight to stay at her mounds as she proceeded to move. He rolled his tongue around both her nipples while he was matching her pace and then detoured to her lips. They kissed frantically and while they were tangling their tongues together he could feel she was almost digging her nails into his back. The difference in pressure every so often let him know that she was getting close. And when he took stock of what he was feeling he realized he was the same. They were moving hard and as fast as they could so that led to the friction between them becoming nearly a flame. Luckily it was incredibly pleasurable and he didn't want it to stop. But he knew, as he cupped his wife's breasts to help him suckle at each one lovingly, that they weren't going to be able to last. "Are you close love?" he asked his wife when he felt he'd gone over her thoroughly.

"Yes, I'm… I'm going to… come… don't stop," Beckett was panting as she was raking her nails through his hair as she thought she'd hurt him if she continued to hold onto his back.

"Then do it love, I said I'd make you come and I'll do it right… now," Castle grunted at the end as he recalled his other promise to make her do so twice. That made him grab her hips again to tilt them down and he felt her clit easily brushing against his skin.

With the added stimulation Beckett was crying out in joy a few seconds before her orgasm struck her and everything tightly coiled within her body broke fully. She felt warmth and throbbing to the point that she didn't think he'd be able to make her feel that again, it was taking her over so hard she almost wasn't aware that her husband was joining her until she could feel it. They moved together and she forgot her position that Castle was holding her at until things were building up yet again. She wasn't sure if it was her body taking control or her own control and she kept moving until a heavy cry was ripped out of her throat. She was clawing at him, holding onto him as tightly as she could before she felt him climaxing with her. They were calling each other's names repeatedly until finally they were slowing down and she slumped against her husband's body while he thrust within her a few more times before stopping abruptly and panting hard against her neck.

"I don't know how fast we're going to be able to start up again," Castle said when he had enough breath to speak. He was startled when his wife pulled away from him and went over to the nightstand and the book there. She remained there and he couldn't help following her immediately, leaning over and kissing at her shoulders, feeling her tense up slightly at his touch before she relaxed. "What do you have?" he asked when he realized she'd stopped turning the pages.

"Here," Beckett said, turning to him and handing over the book.

"Haven't done this one in a while," Castle said with a smile. He reached past her to set the book on the nightstand again, jumping a little when she slapped his ass firmly. "You couldn't resist," he stated, smiling at her before he grabbed her.

"Neither could you," Beckett replied easily. She laid down at his direction and helped him with getting a pillow beneath her hips before she watched her husband set another under the pillow to tilt her hips up slightly. She watched him come back to her and moved her legs to how they were in the picture as soon as he was close enough to her. Her right leg rested on his hip and kept it straight, her toes pointing out though she knew she wasn't going to be able to hold that the entire time. Her left she pressed the foot against her husband's chest with his help and as he held it against him with one hand the other was moving out of her sight in between them. She knew; without seeing; that he was grasping his erection and she gasped when he suddenly brushed the tip of his member against her entrance. "I'm ready!" she cried out. When he rammed into her a second later she let out a scream, unable to stop herself as it felt as if she'd completely exploded around him though it was just the reaction of her body.

"At least…" Castle started to say. "At least I know you're alright."

Beckett couldn't help letting out a laugh before she said, "I won't be if you don't move. How do you stay this hard?"

"If I knew I'd teach men… or sell it if it was tangible," Castle replied. When his wife looked at him questioningly he shook he head and then began to thrust. The picture of the position in the book had text on it as well, that time saying merely numbers. It had been cryptic but he took it to mean he should use the position to switch up thrusts. So when they used that position he would do so but changed it each time. That time he thrust shallowly and slowly four times before he went deeper, harder and faster for at least six and then started over again. He could tell Beckett was enjoying it as he looked down at her, holding her knee with his hand while the other still held her foot against him, and he couldn't deny he was as well.

Feeling her husband slowing down yet again Beckett fought the urge to tell him to stop as she wasn't sure she wanted him to interrupt the faster thrusting he was doing. But she thought of something and said, "When we… when we're about to come… let me bring you down to me."

"Whenever you want," Castle said seriously before he brought her foot up to him so he could kiss at the top of it gently. As she arched her back he groaned heavily since that affected his thrusts and he immediately started to slow down so he could get inside of her more shallowly. He watched her closely, trying to change the direction of his thrusts before he moved straight again as he couldn't make much of a difference. "Maybe we should do that now," he told her.

The instant he stopped speaking Beckett almost threw her legs around her husband's waist and pushed herself up on her elbows at the same time. With them closer to each other she was able to initiate a kiss and they got a little away from themselves as they couldn't seem to stop; only breaking briefly for a breath of air before they began to kiss once more. She could feel her husband still mixing his thrusts but they were less measured than they'd been before. She was crying out as he was deep or nearly slipping out of her and each one had its own particular sensation. It made her writhe her hips on the bed, and she nearly fell to it as it became harder and harder to keep herself up.

Leaning down Castle found that he could reach his wife's collarbone and he kissed at it reverently before he moved to the hollow of her throat. He loved the way she gasped in joy as he nipped at the edge of it, sending a thrill through him that startled him at the same time since it was far more intense than he thought it'd be. Looking at her as they kept thrusting he was soon able to discern that she was close. "I… hope this has been long enough," he hissed through his clenched teeth.

"It has," Beckett gasped, trying to thrust harder against him though she couldn't move that well. Their hips were still smacking together and it was the realization the thrumming sensation wasn't her entire body that she broke. She was scraping her nails along her husband's back hard at the waves of ecstasy flooding her body before crying out, "I love you don't… don't stop fucking me Rick! I want to feel… feel your cock so deep in my pussy. Please don't stop!"

"I can't," Castle groaned as right as he spoke he was climaxing. He angled his hips down; still remembering his wife's demand; and he told her, "I love you too Kate I need to… take you just like this and take your beautiful… sweet pussy as hard as I can. I adore you love!" He was lunging his entire body forward, trying to get further in her though he was as far as he could go and by the time he recalled the baby it was too late.

Her nails were digging straight into her husband's back and Beckett was chanting his name repeatedly until he broke with her. She was aware of their bodies sliding against each other, how deep he was getting and the throbbing of their bodies together. But when that all stopped it was a shock to her and she fell to the bed finally, gasping for air as her husband gave a last thrust before he was moving away from her. "Don't," she said, trying to stop him but unable to.

"I shouldn't have-" Castle began to say.

"Stop," Beckett told him firmly. "We've been this rough and didn't know I was already pregnant," she assured him as she sat up and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm fine and so is the baby."

Sighing Castle said, "I was rough."

"And that's what I wanted," Beckett told him simply. "And what I need again." When he looked startled she smiled and kissed him before going back to the book. She wasn't surprised when he kissed at her back again but it wasn't for long as she knew exactly what she wanted and was handing him back the book.

Castle gave a glance to the position the two deities were in and then said to his wife, "I'm guessing this won't last?" He then gasped and said eagerly; though he exaggerated it; "Sample?"

"Yes," Beckett said, trying not to laugh at the expression on his face. She was helped in that by her husband kissing her hungrily on the lips and she gently caressed the back of his neck before they slowly parted. With his help; though she didn't need it; she laid down on her side, waiting for him to join her on his. She sighed as he pressed against her and she was going to speak when her husband was whispering into her ear. She froze a little and said, "I can try."

"Please," Castle said firmly. He felt his wife nodding before he then slid into her to her gasp and he felt her leg slide back over his before he proceeded to thrust. As she cried out he groaned heavily in pleasure and then reached up so he could begin stimulating her breasts.

For a while Beckett couldn't quite do what her husband had suggested, just trying to hold onto her self-control at the feeling of the friction that was back again. But she recovered enough and moved her hand down so she was in between her legs as much as she could go. She fingered Castle, making him groan behind her into her hair, before she moved her hand. "Rick," she said simply.

Seeming to tell what she wanted just from that Castle moved them so she was on her knees above him while he was on his own. He thrust with her furiously while they were passionately kissing and he couldn't stop his hands from roaming her entire form repeatedly. At the same time, she was doing the same to him and after several minutes of doing that he stopped them both. "Too much," he told her, breathing heavily when she looked at him.

"We don't have to take hours," Beckett told him, a little irritated as she'd been feeling extremely good before he'd stopped. ' _Though at least I'm still throbbing_ ,' she thought to herself.

"I know but I don't want to have continuous quickies," Castle explained before he leaned over and gently brushed his lips against hers. When he pulled away he then said, "And I wanted to move again."

"Then m- oh!" Beckett gasped as he suddenly pushed her up against the headboard in so quick a motion that she had a hard time comprehending it. When her husband came up behind her she didn't say a word, merely reached behind her to help him enter her once again. She sighed in relief as her husband began to move yet again and reached behind her with her right hand, cupping the back of his head as she proceeded to move with him.

"I'm not going to stay here for too long," Castle told her nuzzling her neck gently.

"I hope you won't," Beckett managed to breathe out somehow. She gasped as her husband grasped her right breast before she reached for his hand and moved it down to in between her legs. She was relieved when he got the message quickly and proceeded to rub at her clit. She lost her rhythm she'd been matching to his as each touch made her jerk and bend her body at the waist. She wasn't surprised when her husband took that for a change cue and moved so she was on her hands and knees.

Castle wanted to tell his wife that he wasn't going to make her climax that way but he knew he was playing with fire where he was. But he entered her again and began to thrust, though that time he went very slowly and carefully as they both reacted vocally to the pleasure that still occurred. He kissed around her back before he then pulled away and out of her before making her lay down again. "I'm not going to stop," he told her.

"Don't," Beckett said hurriedly before he kissed her deeply and began to thrust again.

Castle and Beckett moved rapidly around the bed as they worked one another to their climax. It took time as they eventually put time between each change in position but they never lost their pleasure each instance. They lost track of how long they were taking in the end, only knowing when they were at the edge when they flew over it together. Beckett holding on tightly to her husband and both chanting each other's names again and twice as before.

When Beckett went still and felt her husband finally doing the same she wrapped her arms a little tighter around him. "You're working hard," she told him, trembling inwardly at the remembrance of the way his back muscles had felt as he'd thrust.

"I needed to and don't worry I want to too," Castle assured her before he kissed her deeply. "How's your birthday going?" he asked.

A smile on her face Beckett told him, "Fantastic. So far."

"More?" Castle asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice but failing.

"Always," Beckett breathed before they kissed and he began to thrust against her.

Together Castle and Beckett made love into the eighteenth before they finally made themselves take a long enough break to regain some energy, having been pleasuring each other at the same time.

"Since my birthday is over," Beckett said with a smile. "I'll tell you that all together it has been fantastic. But I hate to say this; we need to get some sleep."

"I remembered we're heading out early," Castle said before he laid down with her. Before he could do that though he went to his wife's stomach and he gently kissed it before murmuring to the baby that he loved it. Caressing her he said, "You're alright?"

"I'm great," Beckett said, smiling when he looked at her in surprise. "Really, I feel very sated, very… full."

Shuddering heavily and visibly Castle pushed himself up so he was face to face with her and then kissed her deeply. They were involved with that for some time before they slowly pulled away from each other. "I did the best I could," he told her.

Beckett laughed softly and said, "You did, thank you," caressing his cheek. "And the baby is alright too, lay down."

Castle quickly moved to do what she'd asked and as soon as he was on his back he wrapped his arms around her tightly before he froze and swore.

"What?" Beckett asked, startled.

"I forgot your gifts," Castle said, going to the kitchen. "I'm so stupid."

"No, we were insanely busy," Beckett said with a smile before she took the file that he was carrying when he came back to her. She opened it and looking at the picture inside she said, "This is a little outdated."

"At the moment no," Castle said pretending to be defensive before he then smiled. "It is but we have to wait for the baby so it still works."

Studying the picture that was hanging on the wall of their office; of her with the girls and Alexis. It was hanging on his side but she would have a copy on her table in their bedroom at home. "Thank you," she told him with a smile.

"That's not it," Castle replied.

Flipping to the next picture Beckett smile widely at the camera that was in it and she asked, "Thank you again it's… perfect."

"I saw you looking at it online and knew I had to get it," Castle replied since it was the next step up from her current model. He was going to speak again before she suddenly kissed him and was doing so deeply so he was quick to respond to her eagerly. When they finally parted he smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Leaning against him and kissing him again Beckett nuzzled his lips and said earnestly, "I love you Rick. _Achingly deep_."

With a smile Castle kissed her, knowing she felt more comfortable wording the last in Irish, and when he pulled back he told her seriously, "I love you too Kate. _So deeply that you're never out of my mind_." They kissed yet again and both kept it gentle once more before slowly they parted and he took the pictures and file, setting it on his nightstand. They lay down again and he held her tightly to his side before he stroked her hair. "Our next anniversary is going to be a great one," he couldn't help comment.

Beckett laughed softly and said, "I think it doesn't matter what the occasion is."

Pausing for a moment Castle nodded and then moved so he was above her before he kissed her and said, "Does this one?"

"No, make love to me Rick," Beckett breathed as her excitement had already begun.

The two kissed fervently as they were soon coupled together tightly and they made love eagerly, not ready to stop just yet. And while they knew they were going home later that day, they took the chance for one more time while they were alone as their passion took them over which they gladly allowed it to do.


	34. Epilogue- Your Love And Nothing More

Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: As it says this is the epilogue of the story so it's all wrapped up here. I do have another story so if anyone's interested in reading it look out for it in a few days!

A/N #2: It was great to get the reviews I did to the last chapter so I will go ahead and get started on my thank yous! Josie (Glad to see that you thought the last chapter was another great one. I'm not surprised that you're glad they're having another baby or your comment about the gender I get that a lot. And it was so nice to see that you think Castle and Beckett are hot and loving together since I can't see them as anything else, also great you think that's a perfect mix since I do too! And you're very welcome too!),

TORONTOSUN (Great you thought the first half was very good writing for everyone. And I'm glad you like the Hawaii idea for the family since I do want to write that. And happy to see you think the love scenes were still good writing, I do try my best with that so to see you like it is great!),

MsNYC (I was glad that you could tell that Beckett really enjoyed her birthday, lol, since I did want to make it very obvious that she did. And it's nice that you're looking forward to the Hawaii trip already, lol, I'm not sure when that'll be to be honest. I wasn't surprised that you're missing Lanie too, I know a lot of people do. And of course, nice to see you thought it was great writing as usual!) and

vetgirlmx (I was happy to read that you thought it was a very nice chapter. And you're right, lol, that Beckett did have a really good celebration for her birthday. And I'm glad you loved the gifts that she got, but especially from the girls as I'd hoped they'd be seen as good one! And yeah, I wanted to show that they definitely put thought into the gifts so nice to see you mentioned that. I'm glad you loved the flashbacks, not surprised you liked the one about her being pregnant with Eliza since of course I didn't have that before. And I had thought it might be weird for Alexis to feel the baby kicking so I had it sort of at first but then eventually had them lose it since I wanted to show they were close and become closer. So I'm happy I could surprise you pleasantly about that! But I'm not surprised you assumed that since Castle and Beckett had just been married. And I wasn't surprised that you mentioned it's time for them to go home, but I am glad that you thought they had a good mini-vacation. Very nice to read that you can't wait to see what happens when they get back and now you don't need to anymore!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them an appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

Also wanted to say thank you to everyone who read this story, will read the story, has reviewed, will review and of course all those who have and will favorite or follow this story. Very grateful for all of that as always!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _That Is All_ by George Harrison, from his album _Living in the Material World_.

Your Love And Nothing More

Patting the side of Alex's neck Beckett slipped into his stall and said, " _No luck today boy, it's too cold_."

"Now you're just teasing him," Castle said.

"He knows the tunnels," Beckett shot back though she couldn't see her husband. "Are you getting Julius ready?"

"Yes," Castle replied simply.

Beckett shook her head, as she smiled briefly, and she then hurried to place Alex's bridle on before she led him out. "Ready?" she asked her husband as he walked out then with Julius.

"Yeah, are you sure you want to let them ride?" Castle asked.

"Why- I'm not jealous," Beckett said as he came up next to her. "Rick," she said firmly as he just stared at her. When he didn't stop she sighed and said, "Okay, I am but not that much. And I remind myself it's necessary. Let's go."

Motioning for her to go first through the temporary tunnel the stables had for when it snowed or rained Castle watched Alex throwing his head and he smiled, not surprised the horse seemed to know where they were going. Once they'd made it to the building he saw the girls were looking for them and he called, "We made it."

"Can we ride now? Can we ride now?" Eliza asked, jumping up and down rapidly.

"Hold on," Beckett said. When her daughter stopped before she got close with Alex she said, "Thank you."

"I remembered," Eliza replied. "But can we?"

"After we let them go around a couple times," Beckett said.

" _Why is she so calm_?" Castle called to his wife; speaking in Irish as they were passing the girls.

Knowing he was indicating their oldest Beckett said, " _She's trying to be patient_."

" _She's doing a good job_ ," Castle said with a smile as his wife looked back at him. " _She's taking after you_."

Beckett shook her head with a smile, knowing it was a compliment before they walked side by side around the corral. "You two know we're not going to do this for too long," she said to the girls.

"We do," Julia said. "But we wanna go." She watched her parents going around and said to Alexis, "Are you gonna do the same?"

"I'll leave it to you two," the young woman said, standing behind the girls with her boyfriend.

Julia nodded and looked back at the horses again, trying to calm down. She heard voices then and turned to the tunnel to see that David and Mari were walking in.

"Hey, so you are here," the mayor called to his friends.

"Charlie told you we were?" Castle asked as he and Beckett stopped to go to the fence.

"He did, we were here to check on ours," David replied. "Becca and Dani are at home with everyone else. Happy Thanksgiving by the way."

"Happy Thanksgiving," Beckett said, along with the others. "You're not going to take them in here?"

"No, we were planning on giving it a shot tomorrow," David said before he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked with Castle and Beckett to see their daughters were dancing.

"I think it's hard for them to shake their Paso," Castle replied as they were dancing the part they'd had together at the beginning of the routine.

"It _was_ yesterday," Becket said, glancing at her husband.

"How are you by the way?" David said.

"Did Rebecca put you up to that?" Beckett said though it was rhetorical. Before the man could reply she told him, "Tell her I'm fine."  
"Okay, we just stopped by to say hello and to ask if your girls could come over tomorrow for lunch? Leftovers," David said.

"That's fine," Beckett said, seeing all three girls were watching them.

"She's right, we're having leftovers too but they can head over to help you out," Castle commented.

"And play Daddy," Julia and Eliza said in near perfect unison.

David laughed and said goodbye to the family before he got Mari and they left together to head back home.

"I hope we dance again soon," Julia couldn't help saying as Castle and Beckett started around the corral once more. She smiled when her little sister nodded in agreement, her mind going back to the dance competition the day before.

* * *

 _"Are you ready?" Julia asked her friend._

 _"Yeah," Mari said with a nod before she realized she was continuing to do so._

 _"Don't be nervous," Peter tried telling her as the little girl was pale._

 _Julia was worried when Mari just nodded again but before she could say anything they were walking out onto the dance floor. Luckily it was dark so she could reach out and squeeze her friend's hand before they got ready to dance._

 _Sitting in the front row Beckett allowed her husband to take her hand as they knew how concerned Julia was about the Paso going well. When the music began she tried not to hold her breath when the three began. But in large part the dance went well though she squeezed Castle's hand a bit when Mari slipped a little during a transition._

 _"They won't take off that much," Castle said to his wife when the dance had ended and the three were walking off the stage._

 _"But she knows they won't get first," Beckett said, squeezing his arm before she hurried to go backstage with Rebecca and Peter's mother._

 _"It's okay, I've slipped too," Julia was saying to Mari as her partner was awkwardly squeezing the little girls' shoulder. She tried not to sigh as her friend didn't stop sobbing but jumped as she felt a hand on her back. The second she saw it was Rebecca she handed Mari to her mother, hoping she could help._

 _"Come here sweetie," Beckett said, taking Julia away from the two._

 _"She feels bad," Julia told her mother. "But I told her we both have slipped before. And we don't care if we get first or not."_

 _"Let her mother talk to her," Beckett assured her. "You really don't mind?"_

 _"I said already," Julia told her, frowning slightly._

 _"Sorry sweetie, I'm just checking," Beckett said. "But you did fantastic," she said before they watched Ms. Grey speeding over to Rebecca and Mari._

 _"She'll help," Julia said._

 _"And you need to get dressed for your Foxtrot," Beckett said, leading her over to the screens so she could help Julia change. When she was finished she kissed her daughter's cheek and tried to find Rebecca and Mari though she had to leave before she could. When she neared where she, her family and their friends were sitting she saw Mari was on her father's lap, talking with her parents and Dani patting her cheek._

 _"How is she?" Castle asked once his wife was sitting next to him._

 _"Worried about Mari now but I told her her parents will help her," Beckett said before they turned their attention to their daughter's next dance._

 _At first Julia couldn't see Mari in the audience, knowing the Fosters were sitting in the second row, but when they got to the Argentine Tango she smiled when she saw that her friend was sitting on Martha's lap. She waved at Mari and then turned her attention to the rest of the competition, everything seeming to go swiftly after that. "Hi," she said to Mari at the very end backstage as the little girl had to join them for the prize awarding announcements._

 _"Hi, I'm sorry," Mari said, looking at Peter and Julia._

 _"It's okay," the two said at the same time, glancing at each other as Mari giggled softly._

 _"The floor is slippery-"_

 _"We always slip on the promenade when we're too fast-"_

 _"Competitions make us nervous too," Julia, then Peter and then Julia again said almost overlapping each other._

 _"You sound like Rick and Kate," Mari said, trying not to laugh again but failing._

 _"Kinda," Peter said, looking at his partner._

 _"Ew I hope that doesn't mean we're gonna be together," Julia said slightly playfully._

 _"You do that with your sister, don't you?" Peter pointed out quickly._

 _"Oh yeah… then that's okay," Julia said before Ms. Grey was ushering them out to the dance floor. She held both Mari's hand and Peter's as third place was announced and breathed out in surprise when hers and Peter's names were announced for second._

 _"Nice," Castle murmured under his breath._

 _"I know, hopefully Mari's okay with it," Beckett whispered as their daughter and Peter were hugging the little girl before getting their trophies._

 _"I thought she'd be upset," Lanie said as Eliza ran out to her sister and most of the audience was leaving._

 _"Oh no," Martha commented. "She knows she can't get first every time."_

 _"We taught her to try her best," Castle commented._

 _"That and she's aware Derek didn't always get first with his partners when he was on the show," Beckett added._

 _"Hello winners," Jim said as the three walked up to them._

 _"Thanks," Julia told her grandfather, hugging him. "You liked it."_

 _"We all did," Lanie said, Dylan behind her nodding._

 _"How come I got a trophy too," Mari was saying to her parents._

 _"Because you did compete," Rebecca said._

 _"She's right, it's only fair you get some kind of reward for your practicing," Beckett added._

 _"Alright let's get out of here and treat these three to lunch before we head back home," Castle said after he'd picked up Eliza to her cry of joy._

 _The group left then, having to say goodbye to Lanie and Dylan who were headed out to JFK, and then made their way to a diner near the theater so they could celebrate the trio's second place win._

* * *

"Hold her steady," Beckett said, walking just slightly behind her daughter. "Let her walk but don't allow her to tell you where you're going."

Julia nodded and looked up at Lottie next to her who she was walking around the corral after her parents had taken their horses back. "They don't know when the baby is coming yet?" she asked.

"It's a little less precise than me knowing about your brother or sister," Beckett said with a nod since they were alone except for Castle. He was leaning against the top rail of the fence outside and he smiled at them when they passed.

"Mommy you could go on Lottie," Julia said.

"Oh no," Beckett said quickly. "I'm not going to risk it with her baby or mine. I'll get the chance to ride but later."

"Okay, I had to try," Julia said before she smiled back at her.

"Thank you," Beckett said laughingly. When her daughter frowned she asked, "What?"

"Walk with me, Lottie isn't scared of you and she'll know she's my horse," Julia said firmly.

"Again, she's just like you Kate," Castle commented as they were passing him again. He waved when his wife and daughter looked at him and said, "Ten minutes."

Beckett nodded before they walked around the corral for another five and she walked Lottie back to the stable next door herself before helping Julia brush down the mare and feed her a carrot. "You're learning sweetie, good job," she told her as they hurried out with the others to the cars they'd brought though she found the snow had eased up slightly.

"Thanks Mommy," Julia said, beaming at the compliment.

"You're welcome, quick in the back," Beckett said.

After everyone was in the two cars they'd brought the family made their way over to the tree farm, meeting at the entrance.

"Why don't Gram and Grandpapa come?" Eliza asked as they walked inside.

"Because they need to watch the food we have right now…" Castle began to say before he trailed off and looked back at the parking lot. "And the house is going to burn down," he said.

"Dad knows to put it lower to slow the cooking a little," Beckett said. "I told you we'd go out to the park when I was little."

"Okay, oh both of them I'm impressed," Castle said when both of their parents walked out.

"Hello again," Martha said to the others. "We couldn't resist coming to get the tree."

"She's right, you were disappointed when we said we couldn't at breakfast," Jim said. "But everything is fine in the kitchen," he directed to his son in law.

"Kate mentioned you have experience," Castle said. "So I'll trust that. Should we go?"

"Yes," Martha said, pouring some tea out of a thermos. When she saw Beckett's startled expression she said, "For the girls; it's freezing and chamomile."

"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile. "Let's go before the rest of us freeze." They started to walk and she was taken aback again when her mother in law handed her the top of the thermos filled nearly to the top with tea.

"They're insisting," Martha replied, nodding to the girls.

Beckett drank the cup as they made it to the section with Noble fir trees and began their search. She was soon walking with her husband and said, "Are we letting them find it?"

"I think so, I asked Louis and he said that they ordered their trees," Castle commented. "So this'll be an experience for them."

"You know one year we need to go to their home for Christmas," Beckett said as she looped her arm through his.

"Did you talk about that?" Castle asked.

"We did and he said next year but that was before the announcement," Beckett told him. "When I talked to him last week he said that he'll push that invitation back until the baby's a little older. I said it would be seven months old and we could go."

"That's not bad, hopefully it's about the same temperature wise," Castle said.

Beckett wanted to comment when she suddenly heard Julia calling out to everyone else. She and Castle hurried down the aisle they were on to make it to their oldest and she said, "This one?"

"Yep," Julia said eagerly. "What do you think?"

"I think," Castle said, circling it with his daughter. When they reached where they had started he nodded and said, "This is the one."

"Just like that?" Martha said.

"I'm just as surprised but it looks like a good one," Beckett had to say.

While Castle went to get someone to cut the tree he said to his daughter and Louis, "We're going to the market for a quick stop and after we'll head home; can you handle the tree?"

"Sure," Louis said first.

"You don't need to worry Dad, but where do you want us to set it?" Alexis asked.

"In the corner of the garage, it'll dry out there," Castle replied.

The family followed their Christmas tree to the cabin in the front of the farm and after it was paid for Castle and Louis tied it down on the roof of the car that Alexis was driving before they began to split up to go home.

"Wait, I wanna go with you," Julia said quickly to her parents when her mother started to usher her to Alexis' car.

"Let her Kate," Castle told his wife. As she was helping their oldest into the backseat he called to Alexis and Louis that Julia was with them before he waved. Getting into the car he said, "How come you didn't want to head back home."

"We're not going to be that long," Julia said. "I'm surprised that Eliza didn't want to come with us too."

"I think she wanted to spend time with your sister," Beckett said, smiling back at the girl.

"Oh… me too but she'll be back next month and she'll stay for a long time," Julia said, thinking that over. "And we'll get to play with her tonight."

"While we're cooking," Beckett said.

"Can't I help with the yams like I always do?" Julia asked, slightly protesting.

"I meant besides that," Beckett told her with a smile.

"Thanks," Julia said smiling back. She then said, "What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

"You mean around the time you spend at the Foster's?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Julia replied.

"It sounds like you'll be busy all day there," Castle pointed out as he reached the market and parked.

"Except for that night," Beckett said. "Your family is here for the holiday and so are Mari's and Dani's so you two need to come back for dinner."

"If for nothing else than to help us get rid of our leftovers," Castle said, turning off the car. He looked over at his wife and when he saw she was staring at him he added, "Also so we get to see you."

"We know that already," Julia said, laughing softly at her parents' exchange. She got out of the car at the same time as them and they rushed together to the entrance of the market before they went inside. "I wish it would stop snowing so we could play outside," she told her mother after she took her scarf off her mouth. She saw the expression on her mother's face and said, "We can't?"

"It's too risky," Castle said before his wife could. "We don't want you and your sister getting sick."

"But if it warms up Saturday like it's supposed to then we can go out," Beckett said, leading the two over to the vegetables. She picked out some yams before she asked her husband, "Do we need any drinks?"

"No, they have the punch," Castle said immediately. "I think we're ready."

"That's it?" Julia asked.

"That's it, your mom wanted to get the yams as fresh as possible," Castle explained as he and Julia waited for Beckett to pay.

"Can I help you with anything else?" Julia asked.

"No everything's set except for the yams," Castle answered.

"Do we have marshmallows?" Julia said hopefully.

"That was the first thing I made sure your mom got," Castle told her with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll get yams with marshmallows."

"Good," Julia said before her mother was walking back to them. She went with them out to the car, watching the lessening snow outside until they were inside the garage. "Lemme know when you're gonna make them?" she asked her mother once they were out of the car.

"Yes, go but please have someone help you hang your coat," Beckett told the girl. She watched her run inside almost and said, "Does she remember we were there when we picked Alexis up?" to her husband.

"She's forgetting in her excitement," Castle said. When his wife smiled and shook her head he followed her inside before they went to the doorway of the family room, meeting her father on the way out.

"She wants to play," Jim said to the two in passing.

"We guessed," Beckett replied. "We'll be in the kitchen," she announced to the others inside.

"Do you need any help at all?" Louis asked, looking over.

"It'd help if you help our parents handle them," Castle said. When the young man nodded he left with his wife, walking straight to the turkey to baste it yet again.

"What're you going to do?" Beckett said as he closed the oven again.

"What do we have left?" Castle asked.

"Mommy!" Eliza said as she ran out into the hall. She didn't stop until she was right in front of her mother and said, "I'm hungry, can I have a snack?"

"Yes, what about your sisters?" Beckett said.

"They are too but I just said," Eliza told them both as she smiled over at her father.

"Alright," Castle said handing her some slices of cheese on a napkin. "Share them with everyone."

"Thank you!" Eliza said before she skipped and tried at the same time to keep Macca and Rita from taking some of the cheese.

"I can handle this," Castle said, taking a potato that his wife was about to start peeling. "Go ahead and start on the yams."

Though she was going to protest Beckett nodded and said, "Have fun."

"I know how to make scalloped potatoes," Castle said in mock protest. When she came to him and kissed him firmly on the lips he tried to grab her but was too late as she walked away from him. "You-" he said.

" _Anocht_ ," Beckett said simply.

"I can't wait for tonight," Castle said as he smiled at her.

Beckett merely waved her hand before she walked over to the family room and in the doorway watched the girls playing blind man's bluff with Alexis and Louis. She smiled as Julia was catching Alexis and Eliza soon ran over to hug the young woman, recalling very easily the evening before when her stepdaughter and cousin's son arrived at JFK for the holiday weekend.

* * *

 _"Why didn't she tell us?" Julia asked her parents._

 _"She didn't know," Castle told her before they reached where the international arrivals would come out from customs. "So she's just as surprised as you she got the chance."_

 _"And Louis," Beckett reminded him._

 _"And Louis," Castle echoed. He felt someone tugging on his hand and looked down at Eliza. "What is it sweetie?" he asked her._

 _"Why isn't Louis with his family?" Eliza asked him._

 _"They don't have Thanksgiving in England," Castle replied. "But he doesn't have classes tomorrow or Friday so we invited him to come here."_

 _"Oh," Eliza said. She looked over at the doorway that was opening and she said eagerly, "Can I go down now?"_

 _"Don't run over there," Beckett told her._

 _Shaking her head Eliza took her sister's hand and they watched together as passengers were walking out. She didn't see her sister and soon the number of people dwindled. "She wasn't there," she said, looking at everyone behind them._

 _"I think that was another flight honey," Jim said, as he and Martha were with them in anticipation of heading back to the Hamptons afterwards._

 _"But wasn't she getting here right now?" Julia asked._

 _"It might have been another plane that got here very close," Castle replied as he was looking at his watch. "And it does take a while to go through customs."_

 _"Look, there are more people," Julia said._

 _"This might be their flight," Martha said._

 _"Ooh, I hope so," Eliza squealed eagerly, jumping up and down._

 _"There! That's her!" Julia cried out when she very quickly after saw their sister walking with Louis. She and her sister were squeezing each other's hands repeatedly as they knew they couldn't run past the doors and they were both impatient to get to their big sister._

 _"Hey you two," Alexis said, letting her boyfriend take her suitcase and opening her arms to her sisters. She embraced them tightly and said, "I missed you two."_

 _"We did too." "Yeah!" Julia and then Eliza said._

 _Squeezing them one more time Alexis walked with them and Louis to the rest of their family before she went to her stepmother. "Since I wasn't here this time when you announced it," she said as she embraced her._

 _"Your dad and I were guessing about that," Beckett said with a smile. When they parted she said, "I know what you're going to ask and I'm good."_

 _"Good and I'm really happy about my sibling," Alexis replied before she turned to her father to hug him._

 _"My da said to tell you congratulations," Louis said as Beckett turned to him. "And remind you he and Mam will be here to see you at Christmas."  
"To check me out?" Beckett asked jokingly as they parted from a brief hug._

 _"Mam may be a bit… eager to check on you," Louis started to say before he thought over how he wanted to express that._

 _"I expected that," Beckett replied before she turned to the others. She was going to speak when she felt Louis' hand on her arm and she looked at him again._

 _"They gave me a few things before we left," the young man told her._

 _"Gifts?" Beckett asked, slightly startled._

 _Shaking his head Louis told her, "Heirlooms."_

* * *

 _"Heirlooms?" Castle said as he closed the driver's side door._

 _"Yes, but I'm not sure what exactly he'd have," Beckett replied. "The only thing besides the rosary I had was a blanket and stethoscope from my great-great-great grandfather's time in the Army and you know I donated it to the Museum of the City a long time ago."_

 _Nodding Castle said, "It's possible they could have something for a baby. You told him how you only had those two things left from your McCollough family. It's likely he's got something he can give to you; especially because they're not going to have any more kids."_

 _Nodding Beckett walked with him into the house, hearing the sound of a rattle before she looked over at the stairs to the foyer. "Did Louis bring a rattlesnake?" she asked jokingly as the girls hurried down._

 _"This is for the baby," Eliza said, handing the object in her hand to her mother._

 _Taking it, Beckett knew that it came from her great-great-great-great grandfather, the carving on the handle of the rattle looking very similar to the rosary she still had. She looked up at the stairs as she heard someone coming down and she said to Louis, "He's giving me this?"_

 _"He has a second one," the young man explained as he glanced back at Alexis who was following him. "That one is in Erin's room. The one you've got was Líle's, dunno how it stayed with Da's family though."_

 _"She could have packed it with her sister's things," Castle suggested. "She might not have had any room in her own… trunk or bag or whatever."_

 _"Likely," Louis said._

 _"Thank you," Beckett said before she glanced at her stepdaughter._

 _"That's somewhat of a gift," Louis said as his girlfriend handed the blanket over to Beckett. "Became a tradition in the family that a new baby got that; made from wool in Ireland. Da wanted to continue it with you so it's a bit of an heirloom."_

 _"I'll have to call him and thank him," Beckett said with a smile._

 _"You guys should go play…" Castle started to say before he trailed off as the girls were dragging their sister and Louis to the family room. He turned to his wife and said, "It's beautiful."_

 _"It is," Beckett said slowly, running her hand over the green fabric._

 _"We need to start the room?" Castle asked._

 _"We do," Beckett said with a smile as they had begun it; but only in the fact that they'd cleared all the furniture to donate and start with new items for the baby. "We should go and make sure they all play nice," she told her husband._

 _"Why don't we put that away in the office and then play?" Castle asked her. When she smiled at him and then went down the hall he quickly followed her, wrapping his arm around her to hold her close while they went to the room._

* * *

"And now you mix some of the milk with the yams," Beckett told her daughter.

"Mommy you didn't do anything," Julia said worriedly as she looked at her.

"I will now we need to mix the spices in," Beckett said.

Julia nodded and used the potato masher her mother had handed her, watching as Beckett was sprinkling the spices. As soon as her mother told her she'd done enough she said, "How do you know how much to put in?"

"I don't," Beckett said with a smile. "You just know." She wasn't surprised when Julia didn't look very satisfied with that answer so she told her, "Your grandmama told me that it's the smell."

"It smells like pumpkin pie tastes," Castle commented, coming over and kissing Julia's cheek.

"He's right, that's what she told me," Beckett said.

"Why do you want to know?" Castle asked as Beckett was opening the bag of marshmallows.

"How did she hear?" Julia said in surprise when her little sister came tearing out of the family room.

"She's got really good hearing," Castle commented as Eliza stood right in front of her mother.

"That I'm blaming on you," Beckett told him.

"Why is that a blaming thing?" Castle asked, pretending to be offended.

"Either that or you set this up so she'd come over," Beckett replied teasingly.

"Yes, I winked, tapped my nose-" Castle began.

"Daddy!" the girls said at the same time.

"Just one," Beckett said, giving a mini-marshmallow to the girls. "Luckily we have some time for dinner."

"Can I help?" Eliza asked interestedly as she stayed to watch her mother spread the yams into a pan.

"Here," Castle said, picking her up. "Don't Bogart on those marshmallows."

"Rick," Beckett said simply.

"We put only enough to cover but if there's too much Mommy takes the extra off," Julia told her little sister.

"You should have seen one year, Dad went insane with marshmallows and the yams were… disgusting," Alexis told them as she and Louis had joined them with Martha and Jim.

"I was liberal," Castle commented.

"Richard, they were stuffed into miniature pumpkins," Martha said simply. "You used about six of the regular sized marshmallows. It was in fact disgusting."

"We have enough," Beckett said, a smile on her face as she listened to them and watched the girls at the same time.

"If you're all here because of the turkey we're eating at five thirty," Castle said.

"We were wondering why Eliza ran out," Martha said.

"Love?" Castle told his wife.

"What?" Beckett asked in confusion.

"I've got everything else," Castle said.

"Rick, we talked-" Beckett started to say, slightly annoyed as she thought he was chasing her out because of the pregnancy.

"No Mommy," Eliza said, leaning over to her. "We told Daddy to let you come and have art time with us."

"Really?" Beckett asked, glancing at her husband.

"I can attest that they did," Jim commented. "I was with them."

"See? It's not a conspiracy love," Castle told her.

"I'll meet you in the room," Beckett said to the girls. When everyone else had left she said, "You still worry."

"I do but honestly they were begging for the chance since I've done that with them and not you," Castle said.

" _Togha ach chomaoin agat dom_ ," Beckett said, stepping up to him, letting him know she was okay with the explanation but he owed her.

" _Chomaoin agat cad_?" Castle asked, wondering what he owed.

" _You'll find out_ ," Beckett said simply before they were kissing. She wasn't surprised when they were both doing so at the same time but when they finally parted she said, " _And then I'll owe you_."

Trying not to shudder Castle savored the feel of her lips brushing against his and he watched her walking over to the family room. He breathed out heavily in pleasure and then turned back to the food, trying to recall what he needed to do next before he put the rolls the girls had made with Jim that morning into the warming oven.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Martha asked her daughter in law.

"I'm not wearing this to dinner," Beckett said, smiling at her. "Are you?"

"No, no, I knew I'd be involved in some roughhousing with them so I have another outfit planned," Martha replied.

"We're not roughhousing," Julia said. "We would have to go outside for that."

"I'm a little surprised you're okay with doing this right out in the hall," Alexis said to her stepmother as she handed her a brush and some green paint.

"There are five of us, we need the space," Beckett said.

"And you're giving me a really nice show," Castle called out.

Giggling as her father waved to them, knowing her mother was giving him a look, Eliza said, "Should we dance?"

"You'll ruin your paintings and I want to hang those up on the fridge," Castle said.

"We should start before we lose all the time we have," Beckett told them. Her father played some music on Julia's phone; at Alexis' request; and they all began to imitate Jackson Pollock as she and Castle would encourage the girls to do as well as trying to paint actual objects. She was used to doing that kind of painting as her therapist back in the city had had her work through some of her nightmares with abstract art and she'd taken to that type well. Since she'd told her husband about that she knew he was watching her as they were painting but she looked over at him while she switched colors and gave him a smile until they were finished.

"I think," Castle said, walking over to them. "Those look fantastic."

"They can go up on the fridge?" Julia asked.

"Definitely. And they seem to be all fall colors so they work for now," Castle said.

"Even though we have the tree?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Exactly," Castle said.

"Now you tapped your nose Daddy," Eliza said, looking up at him.

"And now I think you need a bath," Castle said.

"We'll set these in the parlor to dry and wash up for dinner," Beckett told the girls.

Castle helped her since dinner was set and only needed the turkey to be carved once that was done. He was going to give Eliza her bath when Alexis stopped him and took over since she hadn't done that for a while. He and Beckett went into their room; as his mother was remaining in Julia's room while the girl took her shower; and said, "We need a shower."

" _Then you need to lock the door_ ," Beckett said firmly.

Shuddering visibly at her tone Castle did as she said instantly and he walked over with her to the bathroom where they rushed to divest one another of their clothes before they finally were naked and under the water. He was kissing her a little frantically before they slowly parted and he murmured, "Do we have time for anything more than this?"

Nuzzling her nose against his Beckett whispered so their lips would just barely brush together, " _Enough for some fooling around_."

" _Fuck that sounds so hot when you say it in Irish_ ," Castle breathed out to her before he then kissed her frantically, trying to hold her even tighter against him.

Beckett was aching only a few seconds after her husband started to caress her body, his touch burning her even hotter than the water was doing at that moment. She finally pulled away from him and said, "We don't have that much."

"Oh, then-" Castle started to say before she cut him off with her lips crushed to his.

"My turn," Beckett told him. Before he could ask what she meant she was touching him, running her hands all over his body before he kissed her. She knew it was meant to try and distract her but instead it only offered her the opportunity to touch his back and ass.

Grunting as she grasped his ass very tightly Castle broke away and said, "If you wanted to touch you could have just said."

"Yes, but I was enjoying you doing that to me too much," Beckett said with a smile. She gasped when he turned her around, pulling her flush against his chest. "Ooh…" she moaned when he carefully cupped her breasts. She was touched he could still remember that her breasts were getting more sensitive with the pregnancy. But that soon left her mind as she felt him focus on her nipples, there just barely brushing the tips before he slid his hands down further to her hips. When he reached her mound, she braced herself for his touch but she was soon crying out in joy as he did so to her clit.

Holding his wife up as she jerked against him repeatedly Castle worked over her sex the way he knew she enjoyed the most. He wasn't trying to delay things; as he knew it wouldn't take long before everyone was ready; anxious to feel her orgasming.

When Beckett did so she had her arms back around her husband's neck, holding onto him tightly and crying out in ecstasy as she moved against her husband's fingers that were inside of her. When she stopped, she could have easily collapsed to the floor but luckily he was holding her up so when she recovered she stepped away from him to look at him. "That was… good enough for now," she told him.

"Good, that's what I want too," Castle said before he kissed her hungrily.

" _Santach_ ," Beckett said teasingly.

"Can't help it," Castle said, taking her mock insult of greedy easily. "And I want you badly now."

"And you will," Beckett said soothingly before she then reached for him.

"Your hands?" Castle asked hopefully.

"Yes, you won't let me go down will you," Beckett told him teasingly.

"This is close enough," Castle said, grunting as she was working her hands over him expertly.

"But?" Beckett said teasingly.

"But I want a little… something later _le do bhéal_ ," Castle said.

"I think I knew already I was going to use my mouth," Beckett told him with a smirk before she stood slightly on her tip toe to reach his jaw. Kissing around it she moved to his chin and then started to play with him at the same time she kissed what she could of his chest.

Castle had thought he would be able to move away from his wife before he climaxed but he was doing so and hard, directly on her. And as soon as the waves of intense pleasure had finally stopped he realized what he had done and he started to swear bitterly.

"Easy Rick, easy," Beckett said, holding onto him. "We're in the shower and we haven't used any soap."

"I know but…" Castle started to say before he trailed off at the look on her face. Breathing out hard he said, "Thank you though… that was perfect-"

"For now," Castle and Beckett said at the same time. They smiled at each other and leaned over to kiss before they stood under the water and finished cleaning up before they stepped out and dressed for dinner.

"Open the door love," Beckett said as she wasn't quite finished. When he looked at her she said, "It's the girls."

Nodding Castle hurried and opened the door just a crack before he said in a high-pitched voice, " _Nadie está en casa_."

"Yes you are Daddy, move," Julia said in protest. She smiled at him as he laughed and went inside saying, "Hi Mommy, you look pretty."

"Thank you, sweetie," Beckett said. She looked at her youngest and asked, "What is it Eliza?"

"You don't look like you're gonna have a baby," the little girl said with a frown.

"Not yet, wait until next month and I bet you at Christmas the baby is going to make this stick out a little more," Castle said, placing his hand on his wife's stomach.

"You just did that to touch didn't you," Beckett said teasingly to him.

"I did," Castle said. "Now excuse me I need to comb my hair."

With the girls laughing they followed their parents over to the bathroom to watch them finishing preparing for their dinner. When they were done they headed downstairs with the dogs and as soon as they were in the kitchen and Castle and Beckett were getting the food out Eliza began to speak.

"Can we help still?" the little girl said hopefully.

"Of course," Castle said first.

"We have to set the table," Julia told her sister.

"And pour the drinks," Castle added.

"We'll leave that to Alexis and Louis," Beckett said, looking at her husband.

"Then if you can you can help us move things to the sideboard," Castle said. "First time we get to use it!"

As the girls were laughing at the way Castle was clapping the tips of his fingers together Alexis called to him, "You still haven't grown up Dad."

"I will let you know that I have, I'm cooking," Castle replied as the girls were laughing again at the way he was holding his head up.

"There is _Chopped Junior_ ," Louis told them. When he saw the surprise on the girls' faces he said, "We do get it back home."

"And speaking of food, the turkey is finished Rick," Beckett said. She spotted her father coming down the hall and she said to him, "Can you help the girls set the table?"

While the three were in the dining room Alexis began making the punch recipe she had gotten from Louis' parents. He helped her and when they finished she said, "I think Clara told me about this because of you," to her stepmother.

"You did mention that they made it while she was pregnant, right?" Beckett asked.

"They had a number of parties then and it was easier to drink that for her of course," Louis said with a nod as he was helping his girlfriend pour the drink out into cups with one large ice cube in them.

"Okay, the turkey is perfect and prepared," Castle said to his wife. "So I think we're ready to move everything. We just need our helpers."

"They're here," Beckett said, looking over at the girls who'd rushed to them. "Eliza, you can take this," she said to the little girl, handing her a basket. "Put it on the table."

"Kay," Eliza said happily before she sniffed the rolls.

"Wait until your sister and grandfather are with you," Castle said. "No stealing rolls."

"What can I take?" Julia asked her mother, trying not to sound too eager.

"The yams," Beckett said with a smile. "I want you to hold it underneath so I'm going to put this towel under the holder."

"How can I move it to the sideboard?" Julia asked in confusion.

"I'll help you," Jim said, holding a platter of sliced ham.

After the girls had gone with him Alexis and Louis left with the punch and the scalloped potatoes before Castle and Beckett followed, meeting Martha as she came to the bottom of the stairs. Since there wasn't much food left to set out everything was soon on the sideboard and the family gathered, going down the food like a buffet before they gathered around the table.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Castle said, giving the obligatory toast. "It's great to see all of us gathered here. And since we're all thinking it here's to next year and the baby who will be joining us for dinner."

Beckett leaned into her husband as they were tapping their glasses together and said, "You couldn't resist."

"I told you everyone was thinking about it," Castle replied. When she rolled her eyes, he couldn't help himself and he leaned over, kissing her gently on the lips before they turned their attention to their plates.

"When are you having another competition Julia?" Louis eventually asked.

"I don't know," Julia said, shaking her head. "We hear a couple of months before school starts again so I guess it won't be until later next year."

"How's Mari doing?" Alexis asked her sister.

"I think she's still sad that she made the mistake but I told her that second place is really good," Julia said. "And even though she made the mistake she got second. And Peter and I made mistakes too."

"And will you compete when you get more experience kiddo?" Martha asked, sitting across from the little girl.

"I dunno," Eliza said with a shrug. She ate some turkey and stuffing before she smiled and said, "I'll keep learning."

"She's not going to be a dancer right now," Beckett said with a smile. "But at least she's enjoying learning."

That seemed to open the door to the discussion around the table going to school, Alexis and Louis talking about it as well.

"I'm eager to be finished," Alexis was telling her father as they were all clearing the table once they were done and putting away the food. "But what worries me is what's next."

"I suggested you should leave things for after summer," Castle said. "Split your time up between here and the city and maybe see what you can attempt."

"I know, Louis thought that was a good idea," Alexis replied.

"And you can think about it when we get to summer," Castle said as the girls were calling for him. "Are you sure-" he started to say.

"Go Dad, we can take care of things here," Alexis told him as she, Louis and Jim were going to clean up.

Going over to the family room Castle wasn't surprised to see that the girls were on their knees in front of their games and he went to his wife as she was sitting on the couch. "It was a nice dinner," he said, kissing her cheek.

"It was," Beckett replied, turning her head so they could share a kiss. "By the way we're not staying here after we get the tree."

"Oh no?" Castle asked.

"Nope," Julia answered, coming back to them and carrying two boxes while her sister had one. "We got these and we wanna play them in the dining room."

"Good idea, we don't use it that often," Castle commented.

"And there are a lot of us," Beckett said with a smile as she studied the games the two had chosen.

"All card games except for Clue," Castle commented.

"I think we just want to play card games," Julia said, looking at her sister.

"Then put Clue back and we'll take these to the table," Beckett told her.

"We can do that," Eliza said quickly. "We're big girls."

Watching them go Castle then realized his wife was standing and he said, "You're not helping with the tree." She leveled a look at him and he told her, "You're not. All I ask is that you make sure we have it straight."

Beckett just managed to resist the urge to sigh and she said, "Alright so I guess we'll have to wait."

"I think," Castle said as he glanced over to the doorway. "We have something to occupy our time."

"Nice," Beckett said teasingly before she wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned down to her for a kiss. She wasn't surprised when he made it intense instantly but she tried to recall that their daughters and their family in general could walk in at any moment. But she couldn't deny she was enjoying that moment so she took what she could in the time they had for it.


	35. Your Love And Nothing More (Part 2)

"Lemme see!" Eliza barely spoke to her sister.

"Shh, they'll hear you," Julia said, letting her sister peek in. They'd come back from the dining room to find their parents kissing and had quickly hid to get out of their way. She saw them parting and she made her sister go back towards the other room before they started to stomp their feet, the dogs barking in response.

"I think they saw us," Castle commented when he heard that.

"At least they try," Beckett said before they smiled at each other. "Did you get everything ready?" she asked the two when they came inside.

"Yeah and everyone finished," Julia said. "So now we can put up the tree!"

Once everyone was in the room Castle took Louis with him to bring the tree in and they unwrapped it before together they started to set it up.

"Just a little to the left," Beckett said, watching them. "Okay, you've got it get it set."

"Great, now it's time for the lights," Castle said once he and Louis were out from under the tree where they'd been tightening it into the holder.

Picking the lights up out of their box Beckett smiled at her father and asked, "Having fun?"

"I am, the girls definitely are," Jim said, looking down at the lights in her arms that were suddenly lit as Julia had plugged them in.

"Do they all work?" Eliza asked worriedly.

"Here," Beckett said, rolling around the cords that were wrapped in a circle.

"They're good," Julia said, nodding rapidly.

"Then we'll get started," Beckett told her. "Get the ornament boxes out and ready for when we finish."

"Louis," Eliza said, taking the young man's hand and pulling him over to the coffee table where there were plastic storage boxes. "There are ours."

"Okay," Louis said in amusement when she didn't continue. "Can't really see them, can you?"

"You're gonna help us," Eliza said, taking on a serious tone of voice again.

"Oh… sure about that?" Louis asked, doing his best not to laugh at her tone.

"Yeah, you can help," Eliza said, nodding her head.

"That way we can get to play games faster," Julia commented.

"Before I have to go to bed!" Eliza exclaimed.

"I'm not surprised she thought of that," Beckett commented to her husband as they were nearly finished with the lights.

"How much time does she have?" Castle asked as he was holding the lights and couldn't check.

"An hour and a half," Beckett replied. She draped the last bit of lights on the bottom and stood up saying, "We should get started."

"After you," Castle replied, motioning to her.

Once Castle had placed their star on the top of the tree the others went to grab some ornaments and as Martha watched them the others began to hang them.

"You have some very interesting ornaments," Louis said after the girls had explained an ornament that was made of lace the family had bought in Spain.

"You have interesting ornaments in England and Ireland," Castle commented.

"I saw you had some," Louis said with a smile. "Are you going to be traveling anymore?"

"You haven't been around them too much," Alexis said with a smile as he walked up to where she was grabbing another ornament. "They talk about traveling all the time."

"Sometimes it helps to plan ahead," Beckett said, knowing her stepdaughter was speaking jokingly.

"My da and mam have done the same," Louis replied.

"That one's from Ireland," Julia said as she watched him pick up an ornament.

"I can tell," Louis said as it was a glass shamrock. "Did you buy them deliberately?"

"We did, we thought it would make our tree interesting," Castle replied.

"Did 'lexis show you her cookie angel?" Eliza asked, looking into the box of ornaments.

"I have it right here," Alexis said. "Dad-"

"I'm not budging," Castle said immediately. "It's still in good shape so on the tree it goes."

"I wouldn't try to protest," Jim commented, smiling when Alexis looked at him. "I still have some of Katie's old ornaments that she made."

Though Alexis knew they had probably only been hung up until the Christmas before Beckett's mother had been murdered she nodded and said, "I guess there's no use."

"There isn't," Beckett said wryly. "But it's good to know they don't mind even though you're not an artist," she continued, not surprised when her stepdaughter nodded in agreement with her.

"I have to agree with Eliza's strategy; this takes less time with so many of us," Castle's mother commented when she saw they were nearly finished.

"Maybe we should have waited for your cousin and his family to come for Christmas," Castle said jokingly.

"Daddy," Eliza said in a groan. "We don't want to wait that long."

"Don't worry," Castle said as he watched her and Julia hang the last two of their ornaments. "I didn't want to wait either."

"Come and look at the tree," Beckett said, holding her hands out to the girls. Once they were with her they turned around and looked with the rest of the family. She smiled and said, "I think we all did a great job."

"We did," Castle said with a smile before he felt Eliza tugging on his hand. "What can I help you with sweetheart?"

"What about the baby? We have ornaments but it doesn't," the little girl pointed out to him.

"That's true but the ornaments they have say if it's a boy or girl," Castle said as she was talking about the _Lladro_ ornaments.

"I've seen those and that's okay," Beckett told him then. "Maybe next Christmas. For now," she continued, looking at her watch. "We need to play or else we'll waste someone's time."

When they were all gathered in the dining room around the table Jim asked, "What'll it be first?"

Castle went to a cabinet in the side board, tossing his father in law a deck of Spanish cards and then bringing out a case of poker chips. "That's up to the girls but now we have these we can play as you would in Spain," he said.

"We can do that one first," Julia said eagerly, looking at her sister who nodded rapidly at her in agreement.

"I'll start shuffling," Jim told them, doing so with the deck.

The chips were divided and the cards dealt before they began to play the game, Jim helping Eliza a little with the chips as she wasn't used to them.

"One card left, don't put down whatever card is before hers," Castle said jokingly towards the end, talking about Julia.

"And how would we know Dad?" Alexis asked.

"No clue… and you put it down," Castle said, laughing when his daughter set down the ten of coins and Julia put her last down; the eleven card.

"Can we play Rummy next?" Julia asked as the others congratulated her.

"And have dessert?" Eliza asked.

"We should," Castle told his wife.

"I know, I was going to suggest it," Beckett said before they stood up and went to the kitchen after the Spanish deck was back in its case.

"How did the cupcakes come here?" Eliza asked, seeing them on the island.

"Faeries," Castle said.

"No, 'lexis put them out," Julia said as she and her sister looked at their father in disbelief.

"I did," Alexis said. "He tried using that same excuse with me when I was little."

"What are you going to pick Eliza?" Martha asked her youngest granddaughter as she watched her looking at the decorations on top of the cupcakes.

"That one," Eliza said, pointing to one with a turkey made of fondant.

"I'll take this one," Julia then said after grabbing one that had a cornucopia with fruits coming out of it.

When the others had their own choices, Castle was quick to make coffee and tea, pouring out milk last for the girls. He followed everyone with his own coffee back to the dining room. "Rummy's next?" he asked after taking a bite of his cupcake.

"I think they want you to deal love," Beckett told her husband as Eliza slid the deck of suit cards over to him. She smiled when the girls laughed as Castle nearly slammed his hand down on the edge of the table to catch it.

"Okay, here we go," Castle said as he shuffled the cards and quickly dealt everything before he looked at the deck he had. "Not for sale," he told the others as he took the second deck.

While they began to play Beckett that time helped Eliza playing and she wasn't surprised at how quickly the little girl picked it up since she did know her numbers by then. When they stopped playing, Eliza, Jim and herself getting pots, she dealt the cards that time. They played twice more until she noticed the time and said, "Eliza?"

The little girl was in the middle of a yawn and didn't say anything at first before she then said, "Mommy," in a complaining tone.

"I know, say goodnight to everyone," Beckett replied with a smile on her face.

Eliza walked around the table, saying goodnight to Louis before she went to her grandfather saying as he held her on his lap, "Are you gonna come for Christmas?"  
"I am," Jim replied, hugging her tightly. "And I'll keep celebrating with you so you don't need to keep asking."

"Kay, love you Grandpapa," Eliza told him.

"I love you too honey, sweet dreams," Jim said before he shared a kiss with her.

"Goodnight darling," Martha was saying to Eliza once the little girl had reached her, embracing her tightly. "I love you as well and Saturday I want to take you, your sisters and Louis for a special lunch with your grandfather."

"Really?" Eliza gasped.

"Yes," Martha promised.

"Thank you, Gram. I love you," Eliza said earnestly before she hugged her tightly and shared a kiss with her.

"Love you Lizzy," Alexis said as she'd gone over to her next. "We'll have to play Saturday too."

"Yeah," Eliza said happily. "I love you too 'lexis." She shared a kiss with her big sister before she then turned and hurried over to Julia who had gotten off her chair, hugging her tightly. "Love you Jules!" she cried out.

"Love you Lizzy!" Julia replied in the same tone, both jumping up and down.

"Okay you two," Castle said laughingly as he went over to stop them. "You're going to get sick." He picked up Eliza and kissed her saying, "Just in case you fall asleep. I love you sweetheart."

"Oh, kay. Love you Daddy," Eliza said, sharing a kiss with him. She went to her mother next and kissed her before saying, "And I love you Mommy."

"Love you sweetie," Beckett said, embracing her before handing her to Castle. "We'll be back." She looked down at Julia and said, "You're coming with us?"

Nodding the girl took her mother's hand before they walked together up the stairs after Castle. Studying her little sister Julia whispered, "She's asleep."

"Nice," Castle commented, his voice low as well. "I was wondering when that was going to be. I should have made a bet with you."

"Keep going love," Beckett said, shaking her head. When they were inside the little girl's room she and Castle changed her out of her sweater, skirt and tights into her pajamas before she was tucking her in. She let Castle press a kiss to their daughter's forehead before she did the same and they said goodnight to Rita who was there at the end of the bed.

"Mommy? Can I write in my diary tonight?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Beckett replied with a smile. "But first we can play a little more."

"Could we play UNO?" Julia asked.

"We can play with Eliza Saturday… or tomorrow better," Castle said.

"I was going to say the same thing," Beckett said with a smile. "But for now, we should play with her."

They headed downstairs where the others were still gathered around and talking. After Julia asked if they could play the game Castle was dealing the cards and they began, ending up fitting in three games before Beckett had them stop.

"It's a little early for her, isn't it?" Martha asked as Julia came over to her first.

"She wants to write in her diary," Castle explained to his mother.

"Oh, then that makes sense," Martha said as Julia pulled back from their embrace. "I love you darling."

"I love you too Gram," Julia told her. "And thank you before the special lunch."

"I'm guessing that's a thank you ahead of it," Martha commented. She smiled when her granddaughter nodded and embraced her again before they shared a quick kiss.

"I love you Grandpapa, thanks for helping with the tree," Julia told him seriously.

"I was happy to help," Jim replied. He squeezed her quickly one more time and told her, "I love you too Julia."

Going to her sister the girl hugged Alexis as tightly as she could and said, "I love you 'lexis, I'm so glad you got to come."

"Me too," Alexis replied. "And of course, I love you too."

"Night Louis," Julia said with a smile.

"Goodnight Julia, I had fun," the young man told her with a smile.

"Me too," Julia replied.

"We'll come back down but I would suggest you play since I have no idea how long we'll be," Beckett said before she and Castle took their daughter up to her room; Macca leading the way.

"It was really nice today," Julia told her mother as she was changing.

"It was," Beckett said. "You'll probably have a great day tomorrow too."

Smiling as she recalled that she was going to be spending most of it with the Fosters, Julia said, "I think so too." She finished with her pajamas by pulling on her shirt and then said, "What are you and Daddy going to do?"

"Rick," Beckett called carefully. She then turned her attention to her daughter and told her, "We might start on Christmas decorations." When her husband walked in she said with a smile, "Or the baby's room."

"Maybe both," Castle said. "Are we talking about tomorrow?" he asked her.

"Yes," Beckett said with a smile.

"I think we should really start with the room and then get a start on the decorations," Castle told his wife as their oldest went to her desk.

"You realize that December is Sunday, right?" Beckett told him as he sat next to her.

"I think Mommy wants to put up the decorations," Julia said with a smile as she paused in filling her pen with ink.

"Oh, I should have known," Castle replied.

When Julia smiled at them and then turned back to her pen to fill it Beckett whispered into his ear, "I'd like to get the house decorated for them; the company to put up the lights will be here at ten."

"I'm proud of you," Castle said before his wife pinched his side, making him smile before they turned their attention to their daughter as she was writing.

After getting the ink into her pen Julia paused to think about what she wanted to write before she then started.

 _November 28th, 2019_

 _Happy Thanksgiving, Diary. I had a really great one this year 'cause Alexis was here too again. Dinner was so good and also we got to play afterwards; super fun. Oh, and we had a really good dessert too, the cutest little cupcakes with turkeys and_

"Daddy how do you spell cornucopia?" Julia asked as she paused.

"C-o-r-n-u-c-o-p-i-a," Castle told her.

"Thanks," Julia said quickly so she could spell before she forgot.

 _cornucopias with fruit coming out of them. They were cute and yummy too, I hope we can have some tomorrow too. So the holiday was really nice today._

 _But before we had dinner me and Eliza went over to the stables to see the horses and since it was snowing Mommy and Daddy only walked Alex and Julius. I hope Alex doesn't get mean 'cause Mommy can't ride him. But_

"What is it?" Beckett asked, watching the girl.

"Do you think Alex knows you're pregnant?" Julia said as she turned around to face her parents.

"I think so," Castle said, studying his wife.

"I think you two are getting as good as I am with horses," Beckett said with a smile at them. "It's likely he does but you know he can probably smell the fact that my body is starting to change now, to get ready for it."

"Still that's cool," Julia said.

"It is," Beckett said with a slight laugh.

Julia nodded and then turned back to continue where she'd left off, trying not to write too fast as she did so.

 _I think that Alex knows Mommy's pregnant and she said when I asked her right now that he probably does. So that's neat that animals can know… I think they can smell really good too, like dogs. But after I got to walk Lottie around and that was so much fun. She's nice and sweet too, she likes to bite a little at my shoulder; Mommy said she likes me doing that. I think Mommy calls it nibbling 'cause that's what Alex does with her when he wants to tell her he likes what she's doing like walking him or after they ride. Now I hope Mommy doesn't mind not getting to ride for a while._

 _I saw Mari there 'cause she and her dad went to see Rebecca and David's horses. I talked to her and she still feels bad about the competition and I tried to talk to her again but I don't know if it worked. Oh! I just had a great idea what to do to make her feel better. But I think I have to wait 'cause it's snowing again. But I thought that maybe I could take Mari out to… Well we can't drink coffee so I guess not that. Maybe hot chocolate at the café since me and Lizzy get that there. I have to ask Mommy though but that would be good. We could get drinks and maybe a dessert and sit at the table that has the chessboard on it. She doesn't know how to play chess but we do know how to play checkers which we can do. That would be cool. I gotta ask David and Rebecca when I go over there tomorrow. I'm so dumb, I should tell Mari first my idea; that would make her feel better._

 _We got the tree after the stables and Grandpapa and Gram came too though we thought they were gonna stay at home. So that was nice 'cause I was so afraid Grandpapa wasn't going to celebrate with us again; just one time and that's it. But I was wrong; he was even there when we worked on the tree. So I'm really happy about that too. I hope he can stay for a while… when is he gonna retire so he can live with us?_

Hearing Julia gasping Castle asked, "What's wrong?"

"No, I just thought of something, what if Grandpapa doesn't want to retire 'cause he doesn't want to move in with the baby coming?" Julia asked them.

"He's not ready to retire," Beckett said reassuringly. "Believe me he's eager to have another grandchild and to see it."

Julia smiled and said, "Good, I thought he didn't want to move in 'cause of that."

"Don't worry, he's eager," Beckett replied, a little startled that at some point she'd pressed her hand to her abdomen.

"Okay, I'm almost done," Julia told them before she turned back to her diary.

 _I have to go to bed really soon but I just wanted to say that I'm thankful for everyone in my family; definitely the new baby; and my friends; definitely Mari;_

Julia flushed and got a little more ink before she went back to writing and continued her entry so she could finish it.

 _and because I'm lucky too. All the Dear America books, the ones from Canada and other books, not a lot of the girls there have horses. So I'm super lucky. But I'm the luckiest 'cause of my parents. They love me so much even though they're going to have another baby; and Lizzy too. Even when she was born they loved me so much. So I'm thankful for all that. There, much better than I said at school in my class. Good Thanksgiving night diary!_

"All done?" Beckett asked her daughter as she heard the diary closing.

"Yeah but it can't be bedtime yet," Julia said.

"What your gram said was a while ago," Castle pointed out to her.

"Okay," Julia said with a sigh, going over to the bed after she had put away everything. She hugged Macca tightly before scratching his head before she moved to get up on the mattress. "Night Daddy," she said to her father, hugging him as tightly as she could when he was sitting next to her. "I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart, sleep tight okay?" Castle told her. When she nodded, he leaned down and shared a quick kiss with her before he moved away to let Beckett sit where he'd been.

"I love you Mommy, thank you for teaching me again how to walk Lottie," Julia said.

"I'm sorry you won't be able to ride her for a while but that just gives you time to learn how to handle her more," Beckett said. "And for me to see how she'll be in her temperament after she gives birth."

Nodding; since her parents had told her they weren't sure how Lottie would be after her horrible stable before; Julia said, "I'm just glad I have her."

"Me too," Beckett said as they embraced. "I love you too sweetie, goodnight." She got up after she and Julia had shared a kiss and tucked the girl in carefully before scratching Macca's head. She and Castle stood in the doorway to watch their oldest before he turned off the lights and she walked with him over to Eliza's room to check on her.

"I'm really glad I got the chips for us to use," Castle told his wife once they were going downstairs.

"I know," Beckett replied with a smile before they stepped into the dining room. "Okay, we're ready to play."

"I thought we'd suggested it but it looks like you guys beat us to it," Castle commented when he saw the hands of cards on the table. "What kind of poker are we playing?"

"Omaha," Alexis said. "But we need something to drink."

"We cleared the room," Castle said in amusement when the others all left as he sat down at his chair.

"That and they're probably thirsty," Beckett told him before going over to her chair next to his. She was startled when he stopped her by grabbing her wrist and she smiled as he pulled her over to him.

Alexis at that moment; first to finish making herself some tea; was about to walk into the dining room when she paused at the doorway before ducking back so her father and stepmother wouldn't see her. But she managed to look around it, seeing that she hadn't been imagining things and her father was pressing his cheek to Beckett's abdomen.

"I'm not sure what you're hoping to feel and hear but I don't think you're going to have the chance," Beckett was telling her husband with a smile as she carefully stroked his hair.

"Can I tell you something?" Castle asked her, looking up at her.

"Okay," Beckett said, still smiling.

"I'm impatient, I was last time when you were pregnant too, to see the evidence that you are," Castle replied, tilting his head up to her though not moving it from where it was.

"It'll happen soon Rick I told you already I can tell a little more," Beckett said.

"What exactly?" Castle asked, moving away.

"Yes," Beckett replied.

"Really?" Castle said as they'd spoken about if her breasts would change as they hadn't really her first pregnancy.

"Slightly," Beckett said, wondering what would be his reaction since they'd done the same the pregnancy before.

"Yeah, the same," Castle said. He glanced to the doorway and said, " _And so you know I still want them_."

"I'm glad to hear," Beckett said before she sat down on her chair as she'd heard footsteps.

"Just you?" Castle asked when he saw his daughter.

"Yeah, they're making coffee," Alexis answered before she sat down on her chair. "Jim is using it," she quickly told her father.

"I know your gram won't really go near that machine anymore," Castle replied with a smile.

"Listen," Alexis said after they were quiet for a moment. "I wanted to have a chance to tell you that I'm so sorry-"

"You don't need to apologize for your mother," Beckett interrupted her as she knew already what she was going to say. "You had no influence on her and… she really thought she could get back to…"

"Whatever she had with you Dad," Alexis finished for her.

"Every day she was here I knew I'd made a mistake," Castle said with a grimace.

"But you stopped a while back," Beckett said, taking his hand.

Fighting a smile at the sight of their hands entwining Alexis said to them, "She's right, you hadn't seen her since 2009."

"Are you sure she's serious about her fiancé?" Beckett asked her.

"She is but… I guess she wanted just herself to be happy," Alexis replied after thinking about that. "And I really think she was jealous of you Kate."

"We thought so," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"But she's back in Italy and we don't need to worry about her bothering Julia again," Beckett said quickly as she heard footsteps. "Will you deal first?" she asked her stepdaughter.

"Sure," Alexis said as her stepmother was gathering the cards for her. Before she took the deck, she squeezed her hand tightly and said, "I'm eager to see my new sibling so you know."

With a smile, Beckett nodded and watched the others walking in before they gathered around the table and Alexis dealt the cards around to all of them. Settling in to play with the others she reached to her husband to squeeze his hand one more time and then turned their attention to the game.

* * *

Walking into the bathroom Castle said to his wife with a smile, "Good?"

"It's still warm if that's what you're asking," Beckett said as she smiled at him. After they'd said goodnight to their family she had made her husband draw her a bath, what he owed her from before. "But I'm about ready to get out I'm going to get wrinkled."

"Okay," Castle said before he knelt next to her. He lathered her bath sponge and after it was ready waited for her to turn around so he could wash her back. "So, are we even now?" he asked as he rubbed around in circles to massage her more than wash her.

"Hmm, we are," Beckett said. "Oh, do you think you can leave me to get dressed after this?"

"Of course," Castle said. "Whatever you want."

Turning to him to look over her shoulder Beckett said, "What do you want?"

Not surprised she could tell from his tone Castle told her, "I'll let you know once we're out in the room." When she nodded, he rinsed off her back before he waited for her to lean back and he began to wash her front gently. "I can't really tell," he told her honestly.

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said. "When you can you'll know." She smiled when he laughed before she leaned over so they could share a tender kiss which they did for some time.

"Better stand or else I'll never finish," Castle told her.

Beckett quickly did so with a smile and stood up to allow him to reach from her breasts down to her feet which she raised for him to clean. When she was rinsed; still standing; she watched her husband grab her towel and she stepped out with his help before he dried her off. "I'll come out as soon as possible," she told him when he almost didn't let go of her.

"Sorry I… wanted to linger," Castle confessed. When his wife stood on tiptoe to brush her lips against his he moved away from her and said, "I'll wait outside."

"Don't take off your clothes," Beckett said quickly. When he paused and nodded she smiled as he left and closed the door behind him. She went over to the full-length mirror against the wall next to the door and took her towel off, studying her body. She bit at her lower lip as she ran her hands over her stomach slowly. There was little change there so she soon sighed and put on her clothes she'd worn at dinner; a blue sweater and trousers; before stepping outside.

"Hey," Castle said, smiling at her.

"I know I should have dressed up but-" Beckett started to say.

"Oh no, whatever you wear or don't is fine," Castle replied as she came to him and immediately sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and told her, "I should tell you what I was thinking about now."

"That would be nice," Beckett said, running the tip of her index finger along the edge of his hair.

"I would like to make love to you and then build up," Castle told her.

"That sounds perfect," Beckett replied, nuzzling his nose with her own. "And I'm sorry about the last few days."

"It's alright, it is the pregnancy after all," Castle said quickly as she'd been feeling a little more fatigue.

"It is but I'm not feeling tired at all now," Beckett replied.

Castle leaned over and kissed her, doing so as deeply as he could while her arms tightened around his neck. He gently ran his tongue around her lower lip when an idea struck him and he had her stand up.

"What do you want now?" Beckett asked, sensing that something had changed.

"The same but I'm adding something," Castle told her seriously.

"Is it pleasuring me?" Beckett asked. When he looked at her in surprise she told him, "If it is then I want to do the same to you." He opened his mouth to speak when she said, "At the same time."

Shuddering in joy Castle said, "I think I can change my plans to fit that."

"Good," Beckett said before she threw her arms around him and they were kissing once more. She had no idea how long or how many times they did that, only that when they did stop her lips were heavily swollen. "Hmm," she said with a smile. "We should start."

"Likely," Castle said before his wife laughed softly. He reached for the bottom of her sweater and took it off her before he was grabbing for her trousers.

"Wait, wait," Beckett told him with a smile as she grabbed his hands. "You need to take turns."

"Oh… I'm so sorry," Castle said, smiling at her. He helped her with the buttons on his shirt and once it was off he told her, " _I love you_."

" _I love you too_ ," Beckett replied with a smile. She let him help her with her trousers and let him remove her bra as she could see from the expression on his face that he was recalling what she'd told him about her breasts earlier.

"Oh… you're right it's slight," Castle said, studying each mound carefully. He nodded and said, "I still want them," before he grabbed for her and pulled her against his body as he crushed his lips against hers.

Their tongues tangling Beckett nearly forgot that they weren't finished yet but feeling his trousers against her legs made her soon gently push him away. "We're almost done," she told him as he looked startled.

"Right," Castle replied as it took him a minute to recall what she was talking about. He took off his trousers once she had opened them and he paused when they were discarded and he looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Impressive," Beckett said, nodding to his groin.

Sucking in a breath of air Castle glanced down at himself and he said, "That's because of you."

"The bath or just now?" Beckett asked him teasingly.

With a smile Castle said, "Both."

"Pervert," Beckett said before she tugged at the waistband of his boxers. She ran her hands down his chest so she soon reached his erection that was curved onto his stomach and told him, "I love this about you too."

"I really hope so," Castle said. He helped her over to the bed so she could lay down on the middle once he'd placed pillows there for her. When he was sure she was ready he hopped up on it with her before he kissed her deeply on the lips. " _Is féidir liom a adhradh leat_?" he asked.

Smiling at his request to worship her Beckett nodded and watched her lean down to begin kissing her. She was pleased when he started at her lips and she responded hungrily before they kissed a second and third time. They pulled away and she gasped as he went directly to her breasts. He was very careful again and she found she was even more aroused before he reached her stomach. "Don't-" she started to say as he slid straight down to her mound.

"We'll be together," Castle said reassuringly. When she nodded, he allowed himself a few passes of his tongue against her clit before he slowly moved away, letting her flip them around so he was on his back. He was startled when she remained above him, just staring at him, and he was going to ask her what was going through her head when she spoke before he could.

"I can't do much, can I?" Beckett asked him.

"I don't think so," Castle replied, not realizing that his voice was as strained as his body was.

"Then I should finish so we can start," Beckett said before she leaned down to kiss him. She wasn't surprised when he tried to draw her in for a second when they parted but dodged his efforts and slid down him so she could kiss over his chest. She was elated by his groans with every touch of her lips on him but tried to focus on what she was doing before she moved lower to his stomach. Since his length was there she took the opportunity to kiss around it and then finally it itself. She couldn't help smiling as he grabbed at her hair and kissed him a few more times before finally she pulled away and said, "Good enough?"

Without a word, Castle launched himself up and he kissed her deeply while he tried to get her as close to him as he could. He then whispered into her ear after they'd parted and they went straight back down to the bed. His wife turned around on him and after a moment he could feel her mouth descend before he hissed heavily. He tried to recover enough to pleasure her which he was just able to do and they began to work on each other.

The room was quiet except for muffled groans and cries as Castle and Beckett made sure they pushed each other to the edge and well over it. When they had both climaxed Castle was breathing heavily as Beckett got up and moved around so she could look at him.

"Think you're okay for more?" Beckett asked him.

"You can see me, right?" Castle asked her. When she glanced down at him he said, "It's painful."

"Not quite," Beckett replied before she leaned down to kiss him. She felt him wrapping his arms around her and was going to pull away to speak to him when he suddenly flipped her around onto her back. At that point, he moved back and she reached up to brush her fingertips along his jaw.

"What about you?" Castle asked, reaching up and capturing her hand to kiss her fingertips.

Beckett took stock of her body at that moment and told him, "I may need a little more." She was relieved when he took that seriously; as she had been serious; and leaned down to kiss her. She took the chance and wrapped her arms and legs around him tightly before he was slipping his tongue into her mouth. They began to tangle together hungrily and she felt a shiver pass through her body; knowing she was coming back to her arousal.

When they very slowly pulled away from one another Castle descended to her neck, very gently kissing around it before he sought out her pulse. Since he'd done it so many times before he knew where it was and he flicked his tongue out at her skin there before he moved back to look at her. "Kate, I want to-" he began.

"If you do you need to be careful, I was going to come if you hadn't moved down," Beckett told him seriously.

Castle nodded and kissed her on the lips before he moved down to her chest, starting at the hollow of her throat which he gently kissed around before descending once more. He reached her right breast first and there he kissed her even more softly than before, just barely brushing his lips against her. He was pleased when she moaned deeply at the sensation and he moved around, going to her other breast as well before he went to the nipple on her left mound.

Beckett's back arched hard the second she felt her husband's tongue curling around the nub. He was careful but it was a heady sensation that seemed to go through her entire body. He continued and she was trying not to move too much as he was going to her other breast and repeating the same thing there. "Rick?" she finally said, panting heavily.

"What?" Castle asked, pulling away though he didn't want to.

"Do you think you can try?" Beckett said, cupping his face with her hand.

"I think so," Castle said, breathing out heavily as he knew what she meant. "After-"

"You know what to do already," Beckett told him.

With a nod, Castle finally agreed and he moved down to her breasts again, beginning to lightly kiss her once more. He moved back to her nipples quickly after and proceeded to lick at them before he placed his tongue flat on her left one, rubbing back and forth and wondering what reaction he'd get to that as he went over both mounds in the same manner as often as he could.

Her breathing seemed to get even faster and Beckett thought she might be brought to orgasm just from him doing that. But before she could find out she rubbed against his body above hers and managed to get herself off with that.

Castle was slightly startled when his wife began to cry out and tilt her head back before he realized what had happened. He smiled a little though that quickly dropped off his face as he watched her go through her pleasure. "Okay?" he asked when she had stopped.

"Yes," Beckett said when she had recovered enough to be able to speak. "I helped myself along at the end."

"I guessed," Castle said as he pulled away from her just slightly. "But you were close."

"Very, you know what to do," Beckett said, smiling herself as she caressed his face lovingly.

"I've learned," Castle said before he leaned down to kiss her deeply. He was a little frantic, wanting to get his wife prepared enough for them to make love but he knew she was still sensitive. So he moved away from her lips eventually before kissing at her neck tenderly, feeling her breathing out heavily before he knew he was beginning it for her.

Beckett was squirming underneath him as his hand had suddenly reached in between them to stroke at her clit. He was very careful she could feel and she was relieved before she realized her hips were moving up to him in response to what he was doing. "I…" she began. "Rick, I think I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked, stopping what he was doing immediately. When she nodded, he moved so he was at her sex and he proceeded to kiss around her folds, hearing her cry out. He didn't want to make her climax yet so he was very careful before he moved up to her clit. He lapped at it carefully, groaning as he could taste her arousal there, before he suddenly found himself being literally hauled up.

"I can't wait," Beckett told him seriously. Before he could say a word, she was kissing him desperately and at the same time throwing her legs around his before finally he reached between them. The second he sank into her she was crying out in joy and she took the chance to get used to him filling her again. "It's been too long," she gasped out.

"I know but… now we can start again," Castle gasped out in pleasure before he began to thrust. As he'd said before he began by making love to her, moving very carefully and yet deliberately as he wanted his wife to feel the utmost pleasure. Watching her he saw she was immediately and he leaned down to kiss her, wanting them to be joined together even more than they were already.

After she could feel her husband's rhythm Beckett was quick to join him before she moved her legs. Hooked over his legs loosely she moved hers up to hold onto him by the waist and she moaned as she relished the sensation of their bodies sliding together since her skin was still moist from the orgasm she'd had just before. She gently caressed his hair as they continued to kiss, moving her hands down to his back before she felt the way his muscles were flexing as he moved. Tilting her head back in reaction she felt his lips on her neck and she moaned heavily before something in her made her prop herself up on her elbows. Closer to him they began to kiss and almost desperately before their tongues were tangling together.

As he tasted his wife Castle started to thrust a little harder against her though he knew they hadn't been coupled for that long. But he couldn't really stop himself and instead he altered his thrusts. He was moving slowly for a few and then thrust wildly for a while. He didn't really count them that time; instead he was making sure he was getting deep inside her. "C-can you change at all?" he asked, stammering.

"Okay," Beckett gasped out though at first she wasn't sure what she could do for that. But feeling him speeding up yet again her feet bounced on his back and she had an idea. Placing her feet flat on the outside of his thighs she waited for his first thrust into her and she was arching her back so hard that she fell back onto the bed, her cry of pleasure echoing against the walls.

Cursing heavily as he felt himself getting a bit deeper Castle began to full out fuck her as she was urging him to after her cry had left her lips. He could feel his muscles screaming at him as he strained them the best he could. He was in love with the delight on his wife's face as he was taking her hard and he wanted that to continue. It suddenly hit him he couldn't though, when he realized everything in his body was aching towards his end. He slowed down when he got to his slower thrusts and then stopped completely, panting for air. "I was… I didn't come when you did," he explained as he knew she was likely irritated with him.

"I know, it's alright," Beckett said, kissing his temple as he was slumped on her but keeping off her. "Just don't take too long."

"I won't," Castle replied, grunting as he spoke since she was pressing her lips to the side of his head.

Though her husband had promised Beckett couldn't wait and began trying to move against him. "I can't…" she started to say when she realized he was watching her.

Castle began to thrust again as he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back either and he groaned as the pleasure was quick and he went as hard and fast as he could. At the same time, he lunged his leg against her, giving him better power. "Fuck… my love you're… I'm going to come," he hissed as he knew immediately he wasn't going to be able to hold out for very long.

"I don't care I… I want to feel you coming with me," Beckett gasped as her husband was kissing around her neck and collarbone desperately. She had her hands running all around his hair, back and neck just trying to keep from climaxing too quickly. But she realized after some time of her husband moving in her that she would not be able to hold out. "Rick… please," she begged him.

"Yes, I'm… come Kate, now I'll take care of you I promise," Castle groaned out as her nails were scraping already at his shoulders.

With the encouragement coached in the tone of voice that her husband had used Beckett couldn't stop herself and she was crying out his name in pleasure. Her ecstasy was rough and literally fiery, making her feel as if she was burning alive gratifyingly. She didn't want it to stop and luckily it wasn't as her husband began to call her name and the sensation drew it out further. She calmed before he did, holding onto him tighter as she felt him spending himself fully within her. When he gave a couple last thrusts he was still and she caressed the back of his head before he started to groan against her neck where he'd buried his face. "Okay?" she asked him gently when she trusted herself to speak.

"I think… yeah just… I'm good," Castle started to say as he was trying to push himself up off her.

Beckett laughed softly and kissed his lips before she let him go so he could move away from her. As soon as he was on his back she was pressing against his side and saying, "Tired?"

"For a second," Castle replied easily. He jumped a little when his wife's hand fondled at his half-diminished erection and he then groaned her name in joy at the sensation as it was quick to strike him. "Ah… second over," he hissed as he was shortly after fully erect again.

"That was a long second," Beckett teased him.

"I'm not-ugh- I'm not as young as I used to be," Castle said, grunting when his wife straddled him easily. "It's starting already isn't?" he asked, pushing himself up.

At that Beckett smiled, leaning down and kissing him deeply before he responded a second later. They kissed one another as hard they could before she moved to take him within her again and after a second rough kiss she began to move, beginning their night in earnest as Castle followed her willingly.

* * *

The second his orgasm stopped Castle kept himself from collapsing on his wife by rolling onto his back, breathing harshly. When he felt her following him he smiled slightly and asked her, "How many was that?"

"I don't know," Beckett replied, a smile on her face as well. She gently kissed his jaw before she said, "A number."

"Yeah," Castle said, stroking her side. After a little more time he had recovered and moved to have her lay down on her back, waiting for her to be set before he moved. He very gently passed his hand over her abdomen as she was watching, kissing at it and murmuring, "I love you little one."

"You don't get tired of that," Beckett stated after her husband had kissed her stomach one more time and moved to lie next to her.

"No and I didn't before when it was Eliza here," Castle told her seriously before he kissed her. It was gentle and he pulled away before he said, "Do you want me to?" He wasn't surprised when she smiled and shook her head and he kissed her again, that time a little harder before he said, "May is a long time coming."

"I know but remember it's the first of May," Beckett replied.

"Still too long," Castle said.

"We have a lot to go," Beckett replied easily as she covered his hand with hers.

"Like the decorations, the baby's room…" Castle began.

"Yes," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "And our book."

"Oh… forgot about that," Castle said, pausing in shifting on the bed to get more comfortable. "Okay so are you trying to say we should get some sleep?"

"It is a little cold," Beckett commented. She smiled when her husband raced to get up and grab the covers before they were both sufficiently tucked in. She was on her side again and she pressed her cheek to his shoulder before she murmured, "I love you Rick," suddenly fatigued but still wildly pleased after their night together and their discussion of their baby.

"I love you too Kate," Castle replied. He felt her relaxing against him soon and he smiled, not surprised she was exhausted as they'd been busy working together since she'd gotten out of the bath he'd drawn for her. As he was too he was closing his eyes shortly after, thinking of their discussion of their baby. There was a lot of time until May but he knew she was right; there was more for them to do before they prepared for the new edition to their family. And he knew, as he soon after fell into a deep and pleasured sleep, he and his wife were both thinking the same; that they would always be eager to see their child as her pregnancy continued.


End file.
